WATCHING THE WORLD TWO PIONEERS ARE GONE

With Roger Vielvoye from London Dame Violet Dickson was one of the doughty breed of Englishwomen who followed their husbands around the British empire in the final years of the heyday of imperial power. As the wife of a former chief representative of the old Kuwait Oil Co., she was one of the few remaining links between the oil industry and the days when Kuwait had no oil and was of only marginal interest to many early explorationists.

Jan. 21, 1991

3 min read

Dame Violet Dickson was one of the doughty breed of Englishwomen who followed their husbands around the British empire in the final years of the heyday of imperial power.

As the wife of a former chief representative of the old Kuwait Oil Co., she was one of the few remaining links between the oil industry and the days when Kuwait had no oil and was of only marginal interest to many early explorationists.

Bob Dyk was another pioneer and a link with the more immediate past--the days when the North Sea was best known for its fishing grounds and many in the industry were skeptical of the prospects for finding oil in those unfriendly waters.

Both veterans died in the opening days of 1991, Dyk at 81 and Dame Dickson at 94.

BOB DYK'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Dyk moved to Europe in the early 1960s as an independent consultant to pursue his contention that the northern North Sea might be an oil province. Born in New York state, he earned a geology degree from the University of California and worked with Western Geophysical, Mobil Oil, and Geophysical Services before becoming chief geophysicist for Tidewater Oil Co.

After playing a leading role in early geophysical work in the North Sea, he was invited to take over Hamilton Bros.' U.K. affiliate. His confidence in the potential of the North Sea was rewarded with a series of oil discoveries.

Under his guidance Hamilton Bros. became the first oil producer in the U.K. North Sea. His company's small Argyll field went on stream through a converted semisubmersible, earning Hamilton Bros. a reputation for low cost development that was not fully recognized until Dyk had retired.

Dyk was a tireless worker in the politics of North Sea oil. He was one of the founders of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and the U.K. Offshore Operations Association and was influential in drafting of the original Petroleum Revenue Tax legislation.

DICKSON'S STORY

Violet Dickson first moved to Kuwait in 1929 when her husband, Col. H.R.P. Dickson, was appointed by the British government as political agent to the ruler of Kuwait, whose main source of wealth was not oil but pearl fishing.

In a world where there was no role for women in political and social life, she and her husband became friends of the Kuwaiti ruler, Ahmad al-Jabir. Later she also was on friendly terms with the founder of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud, as well as subsequent Kuwaiti rulers and their families.

Those were the days when the unknown oil wealth of the Arabian Peninsula was being carved up between British and American interests. After his term as British government adviser to the Kuwait ruler expired in 1936, Ahmad arranged for Dickson to become chief local representative of KOC.

Violet Dickson was fascinated by travel in the desert and local tribal customs and could speak the local dialect fluently. She stayed in Kuwait after the death of her husband and was well known to many expatriates in the days when KOC was building its huge productive capacity.