Michael S. Johnson is a consulting petroleum geologist recognized for his contribution to the discovery of Parshall Field in North Dakota, a major oil discovery. Starting in 1949, he has spent his entire 61 year career in the Rocky Mountain Region.

Mike Johnson, a petroleum geologist in Denver, Colorado, is recognized as responsible for the discovery. [4][5] Johnson has been recognized for this achievement by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG).

May 1, 2016 · Oil “guru,” geologist, entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Johnson (Giannakopoulos), who initiated horizontal drilling, a new technique that has perfected fracking–invented by another Greek-American, George Mitchel– making possible the discovery of the Parshall oil field in North Dakota with oil reserves of 15 billion barrels ...

The Michael S. Johnson Explorer of the Year award was established anonymously in 2014 by two geologists in the Denver geologic community to honor Michael S. Johnson, a highly regarded and successful petroleum geologist.

The Michael S. Johnson Scholarship is awarded to a graduate student at any accredited college or university who is pursuing petroleum-related research. It was established by a generous gift to the RMAG Foundation from Michael Johnson, a well-known and highly successful petroleum geologist in the Denver area.

A consulting petroleum geologist, Johnson is internationally recognized for his singular discovery which has resulted in the systematic development of the Bakken Formation, a reserve estimated at 18 billion barrels of oil. A major oil discovery, to say the least, Johnson’s findings have