THE EYES OF THE OIL INDUSTRY

From start to finish, the oil engineer's basic problem remains the same - the need for a wide range of information about the structure of the well and the extent of the oil reservoir. However, while he is on the surface, the information he requires is usually thousands of feet below ground. But with the advent of more sophisticated logging tools which can be lowered into the well to gather an increasingly sophisticated range of data, the engineer has acquired 'electronic eyes' - and when these are linked to a wellsite computing facility which incorporates an optical monitor display unit, he can literally 'see' the structure of the well which may bottom out 20,000 feet beneath him. In fact, the role of electronics now ranges from onsite computer-controlled logging services to the use of satellites as navigational aids to help position a driller exactly over the spot where a hole must be drilled.