翻譯：THE OPEC oil cartel is about to turn 40, and the mood in the run-up to the grand heads-of-state party in Venezuela in less than three weeks time is jubilant. Not quite two years ago,oil was $10 a barrel and the cartel was on the brink of collapse. Now the oil price is well above $30 a barrel, and it shows little sign of coming down.

翻譯：This chapter deals with the fundamental properties of reservoir rocks. The properties discussed are (1) porosity - a measure of the void space in a rock; (2) Permeability - a measure of the fluid transmissivity of a rock; and (3) fluid saturation - a measure of the gross void space occupied by a fluid. These properties constitute a set of fundamental parameters by which the rock may be described quantitatively.

翻譯：Gas lift is particularly applicable for lifting wells where high-pressure gas is available.Gas compressors may have been installed for gas injection, or high-pressure gas wells may be nearby. Since the cost of compression far exceeds the cost of down hole gas lift equipment, gas lift always should be considered when an adequate volume of high-pressure gas is available for wells requiring artificial lift. Most wells can be depleted by gas lift,which is particularly true since the implementation of reservoir pressure maintenance programs in most major oil fields.

翻譯：The primary limitations for gas lift operations are the lack of formation gas of an outside source of gas, wide well spacing, and available space for compressors on off-shore plat forms. Generally, gas lift is not applicable to single-well installations and widely spaced wells that are not suited for a centrally located power system.

翻譯：The application of physics to the study of rocks (geophysics)is very important in petroleum geology. In its broadest application geophysics makes a major contribution to understanding the earths crust and, especially through the application of modern plate tectonic(板塊構(gòu)造)theory, the genesis and petroleum potential of sedimentary basins. More specially, physical concepts are required to understand folds（褶皺）, faults（斷層）, and diapers（底辟）, and hence their roles in petroleum entrapment.

翻譯：The total quantity of petroleum now thought to exist on Earth is about 14 trillion gallons. In weight that is only one-ninth as much as the total existing quantity of coal and ,at the present moment, petroleum is being used up much more quickly. At the present rate of used, the worlds supply of petroleum may last for only thirty years or so.

翻譯：In the chapter and the next some aspects of rod pumping and of the instruments used to analyze pumping well behavior are discussed. Many different pumping systems are in current use , e.g. , conventional sucker rod pumping, long-stroke pumping , hydraulic ,centrifugal,and sonic pumping ,but no attempt is made to deal here with any other method than convention a sucker rod pumping.

翻譯：The need for a greater understanding of the pumping process and for the ability to engineer pump installations to a close degree of tolerance is being accentuated by the trend to pump from greater and greater depths . Problems are relatively minor when the pump is at 10,000 ft.

翻譯：If Colonel Drake, Uncle Billy smith , Anthony Lucas , and the untold thousands of other members of the fraternity of drilling pioneers were alive today , they would no doubt be fascinated and amazed by the proliferation of drilling tools and techniques that have been developed since those primitive days in Pennsylvania and Texas . Undoubltly , they would also be impress by the great numbers of drilling rigs at work today-------over two thousand in the USA alone.

翻譯：A major oil company usually initiates the sequence of events that leads to the drilling of oil and gas wells in foreign fields, but independent oil operators pay for most of the wells in the United States. In fact, about 80% of all wells drilled in the U.S. today are financed by independents.