Interviewer: Tyler Priest

Affiliation: University of Houston

Curtis Burton grew up in both Mississippi and India, and graduated from the University of Texas in 1979 with a degree in engineering. Burton took on with Otis Engineering, and was able to work on the landmark Argyll floating production system in the North Sea, the first of its kind. Next employed by Seaflo, Burton relocated to London to help establish its office there, and became involved in the Balmoral development in the North Sea, and TLP projects like Snorre. Burton later worked alongside Petrobras on electro-hydraulic control systems in the Campos Basin of Brazil. In the early 1990s, Burton became involved in contracting with Texaco and the nascent DeepStar group, helping to get the deepwater oil and gas industry on its feet in the Gulf of Mexico.