While computing is applied widely in the production segment of the petroleum industry, its effective application is the primary goal of computing management. Computing technology has changed significantly since the 1950's, when computers first began to influence petroleum technology. The ability to accomplish traditional tasks faster and more economically probably is the most important effect that computing has had on the industry. While speed and lower cost are important, are they enough? Can computing change the basic functions of the industry? When new computing technology is introduced improperly, it can clash with traditional petroleum technology. This paper examines the role of management in merging these technologies.
Petroleum engineering is a practice-oriented profession where many technological achievements have been led or inspired by field experimentation. The discipline concentrates on exploiting natural fluids from unseen underground sources. Petroleum reservoirs are unique states of nature; therefore, practical experience is important. Traditional, noncomputing petroleum technology has tended to be empirical instead of theoretical. This empirical approach can be illustrated by some of the most important accomplishments in petroleum technology.
Waterflooding was discovered accidentally in Pennsylvania in the 1880's. However, Buckley and Leverett2 did not present their important theory to explain frontal advance in immiscible displacement processes until 1942. Hydraulic fracturing was first applied intentionally in 1947 to increase oil production in the Hugoton field.3 The considerable advances in understanding fracture behavior physics occurred much later.
Inspired by high taxes on imported salt, the salt manufacturing industry in Sichuan province, China, drilled and produced surprisingly deep brine wells. 4 More than 1,000 years ago, some wells were drilled to 330-ft depths. One well, spudded almost 160 years ago, is still producing brine from more than 3,280 ft deep. Significant improvements in technology have occurred since, but field applications preceded theoretical work by a long time.
