Independent types

The exploitationist has a full staff of engineers, geologists, landmen, and accountants. He is familiar with and has participated in most of the new technology: 3D seismic, horizontal drilling, CO₂ flooding, and so forth. In addition, he is capable of drilling wells very cheaply and has very low overhead.

I like to think that my company, Henry Petroleum Corp., is an exploitationist. The exploitationist is willing to take some risks but does very little pure exploration.

The second type of company, the depletionist, is much different from the exploitationist. A depletionist has virtually no technical staff. With his low overhead he is able to operate wells much cheaper than either the major oil companies or the exploitationist. He will nurse wells along and pay close attention to them but does not have the technical staff to operate waterfloods and CO₂ floods or to conduct 3D seismic. The depletionist is risk-averse.

Independent operators must decide whether they will be exploitationists or depletionists. There is little room for compromise between the types. You can be either an exploitationist with a large technical staff or a depletionist with very little, if any, technical staff; you can’t be both.

Comprehension check

I. Did you find the explanation of the terms “the exploitationist”, “the depletionist” in the text? What were you right/wrong in? Can you state the difference between these companies now? Give a detailed answer.

II. Answer the following questions.

1. What stage in the production life of its petroleum resource has the U.S. reached?

2. Why have major oil companies sold off their properties?

3. How do independent companies appear?

4. What kind of independents are they?

5. What are the three ages in the life of U.S. oil industry?

6. What kind of companies prefer to work during the first exploration stage? Why?

7. What specialists do the companies mainly need during the second exploitation stage? Why?

8. Why does the author call the third depletion stage a stage of innovation?

9. What companies operate during depletion stage?

10. In your opinion, what companies get the greatest profit?

III. Translate into English.

1. Производственный цикл месторождения имеет три стадии.

2. Крупные нефтяные компании обладают обширными средствами.

3. Крупные нефтяные компании сильно рискуют на стадии разведки месторождения.

4. Экономический риск на стадии эксплуатации не такой большой, как на стадии разведки.

5. Независимые компании ищут более дешевые и эффективные способы эксплуатации месторождений.

6. Независимые компании имеют более низкие общие расходы производства, чем крупные нефтяные компании.

Word Power

I. Give English equivalents for the following words and phrases from the text.

Пользоваться преимуществом чего-то, переводить активы, нефтедобывающие страны, деловая практика, производственный цикл, бурение с уплотнением первоначальной сетки размещения скважин, широкое применение новых технологий, трехмерные сейсмические исследования, горизонтальное бурение, технический персонал.

II. Think of the nouns from the text which can be used with these verbs. Make up some sentences.

ex: to change – to change trends. Major trends of business in oil and gas industry are changing.

To take advantage of, to reach, to sell, to shift, to divide, to favor, to take, to waterflood, to find, to apply, to participate in, to conduct, to pay attention to.

Quick Reading

Read the text quickly to find answers for the questions below.

You may need some terms to grasp the main ideas of the text.

E&P spending – spending on exploration and production – затраты на поиск и добычу

to overspend – to spend more money than it was planned

a survey – опрос, обследование, обзор

growth rate – темп роста