Petroconsultants
Encyclopedia
Petroconsultants was an oil and gas exploration and scouting information company formed in 1968 in Geneva
to take over the activities of Harry Wassall and Associates, which was founded in Havana
in 1956 . Petroconsultants collected information about oil and gas wells and fields from around the world and published this information in various forms. Oil companies purchased this information as a means of keeping up with competitors and, in return, donated information they wished known publicly; information also came from local agents of Petroconsultants. Petroconsultants was also a major producer of maps and initiated the first commercial global digital map project, Geodat
in 1980.
At its peak in the 1980s, Petroconsultants had some 200 major clients and offices in Dublin, Cambridge
, London
, Houston, Singapore
and Sydney
. Over the years, Petroconsultants published hundreds of reports and employed hundreds of people. Notably, Petroconsultants was an early developer of computerized oil well and field databases and also of computerized cartography. Colin Campbell (geologist)
, drawing on the work of M. King Hubbert
, extended the peak oil
concept while an employee of Petroconsultants. Petroconsultants was acquired by IHS in 1996 and largely has been absorbed into that business.
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
to take over the activities of Harry Wassall and Associates, which was founded in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
in 1956 . Petroconsultants collected information about oil and gas wells and fields from around the world and published this information in various forms. Oil companies purchased this information as a means of keeping up with competitors and, in return, donated information they wished known publicly; information also came from local agents of Petroconsultants. Petroconsultants was also a major producer of maps and initiated the first commercial global digital map project, Geodat
Geodat
Geodat was a commercial project, begun in 1980 and completed by 1991, that provided digital geographic mapping data for commercial users at scales equal to or greater than 1:1,000,000. The term "Geodat" was derived from "GEOgraphic DATa". Geodat data was primarily "medium scale", a nominal...
in 1980.
At its peak in the 1980s, Petroconsultants had some 200 major clients and offices in Dublin, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Houston, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Over the years, Petroconsultants published hundreds of reports and employed hundreds of people. Notably, Petroconsultants was an early developer of computerized oil well and field databases and also of computerized cartography. Colin Campbell (geologist)
Colin Campbell (geologist)
Colin J. Campbell, PhD Oxford, is a retired British petroleum geologist who predicted that oil production would peak by 2007. The consequences of this are uncertain but drastic, due to the world's dependency on fossil fuels for the vast majority of its energy...
, drawing on the work of M. King Hubbert
M. King Hubbert
Marion King Hubbert was a geoscientist who worked at the Shell research lab in Houston, Texas. He made several important contributions to geology, geophysics, and petroleum geology, most notably the Hubbert curve and Hubbert peak theory , with important political ramifications. He was often...
, extended the peak oil
Peak oil
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field...
concept while an employee of Petroconsultants. Petroconsultants was acquired by IHS in 1996 and largely has been absorbed into that business.