The Petroleum Industry: A Nontechnical Guide

Rating:
Summary: from CHOICE reviews
Review: "Conaway, a consultant, offers a very useful resource for the many people who are affected by some aspect of the petroleum industry and need information to vote, legislate, regulate, or simply understand this complicated and very significant business. The author is not only highly qualified but has the rare gift of being able to articulate complex processes in clear, simple English without being condescending. Topics from anticlines to workover units are illustrated and put into real-world context. Conaway is careful to use the actual working terminology of the oil field but includes explanations of odd terms like "fish" and "buff and puff." The coverage is encyclopedic, discussing everything from the structure of the Earth through all aspects of finding, recovering, transporting, refining, and marketing the product. The clear writing, plus numerous well-drawn illustrations, make this book a pleasure to read. Glossary. All levels." -- J. C. Comer, Northern Illinois University

Rating:
Summary: from CHOICE reviews
Review: "Conaway, a consultant, offers a very useful resource for the many people who are affected by some aspect of the petroleum industry and need information to vote, legislate, regulate, or simply understand this complicated and very significant business. The author is not only highly qualified but has the rare gift of being able to articulate complex processes in clear, simple English without being condescending. Topics from anticlines to workover units are illustrated and put into real-world context. Conaway is careful to use the actual working terminology of the oil field but includes explanations of odd terms like "fish" and "buff and puff." The coverage is encyclopedic, discussing everything from the structure of the Earth through all aspects of finding, recovering, transporting, refining, and marketing the product. The clear writing, plus numerous well-drawn illustrations, make this book a pleasure to read. Glossary. All levels." -- J. C. Comer, Northern Illinois University

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: A great book for anyone that works in the industry in a supporting role. The book clearly explains the aspects of what it takes to find, develop, produce oil and gas.

Rating:
Summary: excellent job
Review: Conveys the big picture with enough well-explained technical detail to give you a sense for why. Includes the business implications of various key geological and technical points. The best overview of the petroleum industry that I've come across. I wish other industries had a book like this!

Rating:
Summary: More a guide to the mechanics of petroleum production
Review: This book is essentially a step by step explication of the hows (and to some extent the whys) of commercial oil and gas exploration and production. Of the books 14 chapters, 13 are devoted primarily to how oil is found, accessed and brought to the surface. There is one chapter on refining, and another on marketing, that together occupy less than 10% of the books total space.

If you are interested in this information, this is a very good source to access it. Subjects ranging from geology to the types of pipes, valves and fitting used to connect a wellhead to a pipeline are discussed in adequate detail to understand the process while at the same time not dwelling on information that would be inconsequential for the non-technical reader. Inside you will learn the relative advantages and disadvantages of miscible vs. water flooding, what type of geology drag bits are particularly effective on (soft formations in coastal and offshore areas), how a resistivity log is generated, and how widely gravel-packing is used as a sand control measure (very widely, it seems).

What you won't learn, however, are the geopolitical, financial, and competitive aspects of the industry. The subject of OPEC, for instance, does receive its own sub-chapter heading, but is given only 6 paragraphs. "Refined and Petrochemical product marketing" is dismissed in three paragraphs.

In sum, the title of the book overstates its breadth. As a non-technical guide to the exploration and production PROCESS, this is a very handy guide. It is not, however, a nontechnical guide to the entire petroleum industry, as it claims.