OUR MANAGING PARTNER
Dr. William J. Schmidt
Dr. William Schmidt joined Shell Development in 1985 as a research engineer and held several engineering and supervisory positions at the Shell Westhollow Research Center in Houston, Texas, and at the Wood River Refinery in Wood River, Ill. Schmidt became an employee of Tosco after their purchase of the Wood River Refinery from Shell Oil Company in 1998 and assumed the position of Business Development coordinator. Schmidt joined the ConocoPhillips Commercial S&T Americas – Loss Control group in May of 2004 as Director of Loss Control responsible for terminal and pipeline measurement and losses. When Phillips 66 split from ConocoPhillips in May of 2012, Schmidt became the global director of Measurement, Loss Control and Product Quality for ConocoPhillips. Schmidt retired from ConocoPhillips in July of 2018 to form Mount Ridge Technical Consultants, LLC – as the Managing Partner and the Chief Engineering Consultant.
Dr. Schmidt has extensive experience in process chemistry, process engineering, operations planning, scheduling, business analysis, and business development. He is the past chair of the American Petroleum Institute Committee on Measurement Quality, the past Chair of ASTM D02.02 – the Committee on Hydrocarbon Measurement for Custody Transfer, and the most recent Chair of the API Committee on Petroleum Measurement, while authoring more than 20 industry standards for hydrocarbon measurement and product quality. He currently chairs the API Rail Standards committee and the API Crude Oil Properties working groups. Dr. Schmidt has given written testimony to the United States Congress on multiple oil related topics, has advised the White House on crude oil exports, and provided technical guidance to the North Dakota Petroleum Council, the Bureau of land Management (BLM), the Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the Department of Transportation, and Transport Canada. Schmidt is also currently an instructor at the University of Texas – Petroleum Extension.
Schmidt has a bachelor of science in chemical engineering and mathematics from the University of Minnesota awarded in 1981. He has doctoral degrees in chemical and electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame awarded in 1985.
SENIOR CONSULTANT
Paul Furman
Paul Furman has earned a reputation as a dynamic and accomplished Leader of Engineering Services. He has been very successful in building teams, Engineering discipline programs and leading projects which meet strict client requirements. His progressive experience has led to resounding success across his 22+ year career, including notable attainments with BP, BHP and Crestwood. Easily able to move from high-level planning and strategy to hands-on design guidance, he ensures that companies and clients enjoy the best possible results. Among his peers, Paul is known for his innovative problem-solving, capacity to engage stakeholders and clients, and tireless work ethic.
Paul has extensive experience in Hydrocarbon Measurement, Production Water Measurement, SCADA, Instrumentation and Electrical installations, operations, project scheduling, business systems analysis, and corporate restructuring. Paul is the current chair of the American Petroleum Institute Committee on Measurement Quality and past Vice Chair of API MPMS Chapter 8.4 Standard Practice for Sampling and Handling of Fuels for Volatility Measurement. Additionally, he has provided technical guidance to the Mexican National Government Hydrocarbon Commission (CNH) on hydrocarbon measurement as it relates drafting new national standards.
Paul has a bachelor of science in Electrical engineering from Purdue University awarded in 2007. He Also has a bachelor of science degree in BioMechanics from Indiana University awarded in 1996.
CONSULTANT
Ian Koster
Description forthcoming.