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Andrew Gould, chairman of Schlumberger, a French-American oil services giant, points out that twenty-five years ago, only one-sixth of exploration wells were successful, while two-thirds are today. Over that time, the success rate for development wells has risen from about 33 percent to nearly 100 percent. He is convinced that the future lies in embedding digital technologies such as down-hole sensors, real-time communications equipment, and other fancy tools that add up to the smart oil field of the future. Companies already use some of these techniques today when they drill wells, but he argues the key is to use them for monitoring wells “from day one.” “Progressive illumination” was the management philosophy of the past: “You learned as you went along. Now, you draw a much better picture up front, and monitor the reservoir carefully from day one.” Private-sector companies do not want to spend such money up front, at least not yet, but he points approvingly to Saudi Aramco’s long-term thinking. 

Excerpted from Page 92 of ‘Zoom: The Global Race to fuel the car of the future’ by Iain Carson and V Vaitheeswaran