What began with a fascination for the mountains and forests of Germany eventually led Jörg Feddersen deep beneath the Earth’s surface—and across several continents.
Today, as a Senior Geoscientist at PanTerra Geoconsultants, Jörg brings more than three decades of professional geoscience experience to projects spanning oil and gas as well as geothermal energy
His career has taken him from seismic surveys across Europe to exploration and development projects across Africa, with a professional journey shaped by technical curiosity, international experience and a constant focus on understanding the subsurface.
From Nature to Geophysics
Jörg’s interest in nature began early, growing up in small towns in Germany’s Harz Mountains and Teutoburg Forest regions and spending many holidays in the Alps with his family.
After completing high school in 1982, he was looking for a profession that could combine his interests in mathematics, physics and nature. An introduction to geophysics during a year at business school provided the answer.
In 1983, he began studying Geophysics at the Technical University of Karlsruhe. Just a year later, he gained his first practical experience at the university’s Institute of Geophysics, working on thermal-gradient data from boreholes in the Rhine River valley. The work contributed to understanding heat flow in the Rhine River valley’s continental rift setting and supported preparations for the German Continental Deep Drilling (KTB) programme.
As his studies progressed, Jörg became involved in earthquake seismology and 2D seismic refraction and reflection surveys. He participated in ten surveys across Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Ireland, working with three-component seismic equipment, seismic recording, borehole drilling for seismic sources and seismic data processing.
His growing interest in reflected shear waves led to his 1990 Diploma thesis on the frequency, amplitude and polarization of shear-wave reflections from the lower crust in the Black Forest. He subsequently worked on forward modelling of primary and shear waves in anisotropic media.
This early combination of field experience, seismic data and quantitative analysis established the technical foundation for the career that followed.
From Seismic Research to the Energy Industry
After completing his Diploma in 1990, Jörg continued at the Institute of Geophysics in Karlsruhe before joining Geco-Prakla, later part of Schlumberger, in 1991.
His initial work included structural interpretation and seismic mapping in a salt-tectonic province, coal-bed detection, seismic sequence and facies analysis, and thin-bed analysis using seismic trace decomposition.
After specialist training in borehole seismic processing in Paris, he moved to Luanda, Angola, in 1993.
There, he supported Sonangol and international oil companies including Shell, Texaco, Chevron, Elf and Total with the processing and interpretation of three-component borehole seismic data and vertical seismic profiles (VSPs). He also provided software support and trained geoscientists in seismic interpretation, time-depth conversion and mapping workflows.
His responsibilities soon expanded beyond technical interpretation. Until his departure from Angola in 1997, he headed groups responsible for borehole-log processing, data management, software support and training, while also managing staff, client relationships, budgets and reporting.
Further assignments took him to South Africa, Congo-Brazzaville and Nigeria, where he continued to combine geoscience expertise with software support, training, client service and team coordination.
From Technical Support to Exploration and Development
In 1999, Jörg joined Soekor, later PetroSA, in Cape Town as a Consultant Geophysicist.
Initially focused on training geoscientists in seismic interpretation and reservoir-characterization software, his role later expanded into basin evaluations in and around Africa, allowing him to combine his geophysical and geological knowledge with commercial experience.
In 2007, he joined Tullow Oil as an exploration project geophysicist. He worked on multidisciplinary exploration projects targeting Tertiary turbidites offshore Angola and Cretaceous turbidites in the offshore salt province of Gabon, while also coordinating small multidisciplinary teams.
After four years in exploration, Jörg moved into development geophysics in Ghana in late 2011.
Initially the only geophysicist, and later lead of a team of three, he was responsible for the geophysical aspects of infill-well planning and monitoring, seismic reservoir interpretation and characterization, velocity-model building, and support for the acquisition and processing of a 4D seismic baseline survey.
In 2015, he returned to Tullow’s Cape Town office, applying this development experience to non-operated assets in Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea. His work included velocity-model building, monitoring infill drilling using 4D seismic interpretation, and mentoring younger geoscientists.
In 2016, he returned to PetroSA as a contractor, applying his previous Ghana experience to PetroSA’s joint-venture activities.
Bringing Subsurface Experience into the Energy Transition
In 2022, Jörg returned to Europe and moved back into the service and consultancy sector, joining PanTerra Geoconsultants.
The move provided an opportunity to extend his subsurface experience beyond conventional oil and gas into geothermal energy, CCS and underground gas storage.
From early seismic research and field acquisition to exploration, reservoir characterization, 4D seismic and development geophysics, Jörg’s career has continually evolved with the energy industry.
Today, he brings that accumulated experience to PanTerra, applying his subsurface expertise to both established and emerging energy challenges.