Integration of geoscience and engineering in the oil industry - just a dream?

Abstract

The past two decades of the twentieth century have been very 'rocky' for the oil industry, as shown by the overall negative perception of the oil companies by the general public. Fluctuating oil prices, many rounds of staff redundancies, environmental disasters and budget cuts supported the overall image of the oil industry as being 'the technology impaired and environmentally insensible giant'. But advances and positive changes have been quietly happening in most of the oil companies. In the twenty-first century, we will witness the metamorphosis of the oil and gas companies into energy businesses - the era of cleaner and safer oil and gas production, and alternative energy resources such as wind, solar and hydrogen is already underway.