Look in the most unlikely places
There is much debate about the state of global oil resources, but one thing is certain - there is plenty of oil left. The problem is that much of the remaining oil is increasingly difficult to access. This is where creative problem solvers like Jaap Van Ballegooijen and his team step in.
The Champion West field in Brunei consists of a series of small pockets of oil, none of which are economically viable to drill on their own. The genius of the Snake Well is that it allows us to access all the oil pockets from just one platform. This also greatly reduces the environmental impact of the project.
The new well not only helps us tap areas of the field that would previously have been out of reach, but also allows each pocket to be operated individually, or together, or in any combination. Even more impressive, 'Smart Well' technology means we can operate the well remotely from the other side of the world.
The technology developed by Jaap and his team is now being rolled out for use in wells right across the globe, greatly increasing our reserves of accessible oil. So long as we have men and women like these on our team, our future energy supplies are in safe hands.
Learn more about new technologies for reaching oil and gas:
Could your ideas take us to the places we've always wanted to reach?
