John Robert Suman (April 9, 1890, Daleville, Indiana – January 5, 1972, Houston, Texas) was a geologist, petroleum engineer, and business executive.
In 1917 he resigned from Rio Bravo and joined Roxana Petroleum Company, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell.
For two years he worked for Roxana Petroleum as technical superintendent for the company's operations in Texas and Louisiana.
[1] Suman's first major invention was the Double Pitman Pump for oilfield producing operations, which was patented in 1916.
[2] In 1933, near Conroe, Texas, a blowout occurred in an oil well, resulting in an uncontrolled flow of about 7,000 barrels per day.
[1] In the 1930s and early 1940s he was instrumental in Humble Oil's development into the American Southwest's leading petroleum producer.