Affiliation: University of Arizona

Jim Bob Crawford contacted the research team through email after reading the July article in the Daily Advertiser about the oil history project. He and Laura scheduled an interview at the Petroleum Club in Lafayette.

Originally from Ged just south of Vinton, Louisiana, Jim Bob Crawford came to Lafayette in 1962 with the oil industry. He had been in the oilfield since he was 17 years old and worked his way up to vice president of NOWSCO Well Services. In 1976, he went to work for Air Products International as a general manager. In 1981 in Lafayette he opened Nitrogen Pumping and Coiled Tubing, LLC, and in 1993 he started Crawford Technical Services, Inc. At the time of the interview, Jim Bob was the president/CEO of his company, Crawford Technical Services, Inc. He held 25 patents related to coil tubing and nitrogen services, and was the author of 7 books. He had been on the board for many organizations including the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition (LAGCOE). A graduate of the military academy, Jim Bob went into the Army during the Korean War in 1954.