Alumnus Doug Baughman named College of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus

Chemical engineers are known to possess a wide range of abilities, from critical thinking and problem solving, to figuring out ways to make a business more profitable. CBE alumnus Doug Baughman (BS ‘82), who distinguished himself as a successful entrepreneur in the oil and gas industry, was recognized last fall as one of 12 College of Engineering alumni to receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award. 

Baughman spent 24 years as a reservoir engineer at Shell Oil and Leede Exploration before forming an independent oil startup in 1992 called CamWest. CamWest acquired underdeveloped oil and gas properties that were ideally suited for redevelopment in terms of infill drilling in combination with waterflood implementation and optimization.

After intensely evaluating every oil field in the Williston Basin, which ranges from the US to Canada, he acquired what became his top-ranked oil fields. CamWest drilled more than 100 mostly horizontal infill wells in these fields and increased the production rate from 1,750 barrels of oil per day to 6,000, adding unique oil reserves of almost 30 million barrels. In 2002, he and his partner bought out CamWest and he served as the EVP, COO and co-owner of CamWestII until the firm was sold in 2006 and Doug retired.

Since retiring, he has been involved with many philanthropic activities. He loves to play golf and is an outstanding poker player. You may have even seen him at the World Series of Poker, where he has made two final tables.