Noted Houston geologist John J. Amoruso passed away Jan. 29 at age 87.

The AAPG Foundation was scheduled to honor Amoruso later this year with its highest award—the L. Austin Weeks Memorial Medal—at its annual convention in Salt Lake City in May. Amoruso had previously served as AAPG president in 1982-83 and was awarded the Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award from the organization in 2007, among many other industry awards and recognition. He also received the Col. Edwin Drake Legendary Oilman Award from the Petroleum History Institute in 2013.

Amoruso had a lifelong love of and career in geology after receiving his master’s degree in geology from the University of Michigan. He began his career with Pan American Petroleum (later it become Amoco) but went independent in 1969. He was active exploring in several states and discovered numerous fields.

Amoruso’s career culminated with his greatest discovery, the Amoruso Field in East Texas, a deep Bossier sandstone gas reservoir in Robertson County discovered in 2002. It held 3 trillion cubic feet of gas (Tcf).

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Encana Corp. was the operator and later acquired a 50% interest in the field in 2007 for $2.6 billion. Three wells in the field produced over 50 MMcf/d each, at a time just before the so-called unconventional shale revolution began to take hold. This field became one of the largest onshore gas discoveries made in the U.S. in many years, and was found without the benefit of 3-D seismic, and what’s more, in a mature basin surrounded by plentiful existing shallower production.

Amoruso is survived by his wife and two sons.