This is an oral history interview with R.L. Ferris conducted as part of the Houston History Project. Mr. R. L. Ferris graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1941 and started working for Shell shortly thereafter. He had several assignments in the mid-continent and Tulsa areas before becoming division production geologist for the Oklahoma Division in 1948. He became Senior Exploitation manager and spent time overseas from 1955-1956. He returned to the U.S. and served as an exploitation engineer for New Orleans, Midland, and Houston. Later he was division exploitation manager for the Houston Area. In 1964 he became head of Production Development in the Hague, returning to the U.S. in 1966 as manager of economics for E&P. In 197...