It
is impossible to cover all the positions that are
vital to the petroleum industry in one website.
However, some should be included. Petroleum
engineers originally were mining and geology
graduates hired to do oil production work. The focus
on reservoir engineering accelerated the
establishment of petroleum industry research
laboratories, particularly during the period
immediately following the Second World War. Major research
attention was directed toward the principles,
processes, and methods for improvement of oil
recovery that included waterflooding;
high-pressure-gas injection; miscible processes; use
of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and other gases; and
development of surfactants. Dr. Karl Clark at the
University of Alberta can be classified as a
petroleum engineer for his contributions to creating
a process to extract oil from sands. With the
advances in technology specialization in creating
new drilling mechanism, oil refining, and designing
refineries grew. As a result, Petroleum Engineering
became integral to the growth of the industry.
Petroleum engineers work with geologists and
geophysicists to analyze drilling data and find
hydrocarbons, improve production and optimize
drilling, completion and recovery methods.
Another career involved in the
petroleum industry is archaeology. Heritage sites
and objects on private and Provincial Crown Land are
protected under various heritage acts. When an area
is being evaluated for drilling, archaeologists are
brought in to assess any historical importance. For
example, the archeologist may excavate a field where
a drilling rig is to be erected. If the team finds
significant material evidence, such as tools or
bones, that warrants further investigation. The
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, some other
provincial and municipal legislation,
regional regulations or bylaws, and corporate
policies require industry to produce impact studies
that provide evaluations of their projects. Deposits
of archaeological materials at a potential drill
site are among the factors that are affected by
exploration as archaeological materials must be
protected before any activity can occur that will
disturb the landscape.
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