Schlumberger brothers
Encyclopedia
Conrad Schlumberger and Marcel Schlumberger (21 June 1884 in Guebwiller
– 9 May 1953 in Val-Richer) were brothers from the Alsace
region in France. Their inventions in the area of geophysics
and Well logging
were the beginnings of Schlumberger Well Services
and the entire Well logging
industry.
Protestant
family. Their father, Paul, was descended from a wealthy cotton weaving family. Their mother, Marguerite De Witt was a political activist. When the brothers were born, their native province Alsace
was part of Germany
. Their parents decided to send the brothers to Paris to be educated. Conrad became a physicist
, and graduated from École Polytechnique (France)
in 1900. Marcel became an engineer
, having graduated from the École Centrale Paris
in 1907.
Conrad initially worked as a mining engineer at Rodez
and Toulouse
. In 1912, Conrad, then a professor at the École des Mines de Paris conceived the idea of prospecting for metal ore
deposits by using the electrical conductivity of ore rocks to distinguish them from the less conductive surrounding country rocks. One of the first tests was performed in a bathtub which was filled with various rocks for the experiments. In 1919, the brothers signed an agreement with their father in which their father would support their scientific research. These experiments led to an electrical surface-measuring system for mineral exploration known as a "Schlumberger array."
In 1923, the brothers began conducting geophysical surveys in various countries including Romania
, Serbia
, Canada
, Union of South Africa
, Belgian Congo
, and the USA. In 1926, Henri George Doll
(Conrad's son-in-law) joined the group. In 1926, the brothers formed Société de Prospection Electrique to develop the theory that adding resistivity
information from deeper formations would increase the effectiveness of the surface prospecting technique. The first office was in Paris
on the rue Fabert.
On 5 September 1927, Henri George Doll and several field engineers ran the first wireline electric log. This log was of the Diefenbach #2905 well, Rig 7 of the Pechelbronn Oil Company at Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
in the Bas-Rhin
. The well was about 500 meters deep but only the interval from 130m to 270m was logged. A measurement was made every meter. The equipment was stopped, and the logging cable was connected to the surface potentiometer and to a battery power supply to make a measurement. The logging rate was about 50 meters per hour. The Schlumberger brothers called this technique an "Electrical Survey", but the more common name "Well log" was coined a few years later in the United States.
At that time, Pechelbronn was the only oil field known in France
. On 28 July 1928, the owners of the oil field signed a contract with the Schlumberger
firm to do oil Well logging. The first contract was for 12,000 Francs (about $2600 US dollars) per month. This was the first Well logging
program.
The Schlumberger
company then tried to expand their activities to many other countries, but the attempts were hindered by the worldwide depression
. On 15 September 1934, Schlumberger's subsidiary in the United States
became Schlumberger Well Surveying Corporation (SWSC) with offices in Houston, Texas
. Conrad was the chairman, and Marcel was the president. In 1936, Conrad died of a heart attack while returning from a business trip to the Soviet Union. During the German occupation of France, the company headquarters was moved from Paris to Houston. Marcel died in 1953. After World War II, Marcel's son Pierre Schlumberger took over the American company. Pierre Schlumberger was married to the eccentric Sao Schlumberger, during some years the biggest individual customer of haute couture clothing.
In 1955, in recognition of Conrad Schlumberger's outstanding contribution to exploration geophysics, The European Association of Exploration Geophysicists (now European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers) established a Conrad Schlumberger Award
. Each year the Award is presented to a member of the Association who has made an outstanding contribution over a period of time to the scientific and technical advancement of the geosciences, particularly geophysics. Notable recipients of the award include Nigel Anstey
, Les Hatton
and Michael Schoenberg
, among others.
Guebwiller
Guebwiller is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is situated northwest of Mulhouse at the foot of the Vosges mountains...
– 9 May 1953 in Val-Richer) were brothers from the Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
region in France. Their inventions in the area of geophysics
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
and Well logging
Well logging
Well logging, also known as borehole logging is the practice of making a detailed record of the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole. The log may be based either on visual inspection of samples brought to the surface or on physical measurements made by instruments lowered into the hole...
were the beginnings of Schlumberger Well Services
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
and the entire Well logging
Well logging
Well logging, also known as borehole logging is the practice of making a detailed record of the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole. The log may be based either on visual inspection of samples brought to the surface or on physical measurements made by instruments lowered into the hole...
industry.
Biography
Conrad and Marcel were two of six children of an affluent FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Protestant
Protestantism in France
-Waldensians:The first extant Protestant tradition is often identified as the Waldensians, who originated through the teachings of Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Lyon who lived in the 12th century...
family. Their father, Paul, was descended from a wealthy cotton weaving family. Their mother, Marguerite De Witt was a political activist. When the brothers were born, their native province Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
was part of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Their parents decided to send the brothers to Paris to be educated. Conrad became a physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, and graduated from École Polytechnique (France)
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
in 1900. Marcel became an engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, having graduated from the École Centrale Paris
École Centrale Paris
École Centrale Paris is a French university-level institution in the field of engineering. It is also known by its original name École centrale des arts et manufactures, or ECP. Founded in 1829, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering schools in France and has the special status...
in 1907.
Conrad initially worked as a mining engineer at Rodez
Rodez
Rodez is a town and commune in southern France, in the Aveyron department, of which it is the capital. Its inhabitants are called Ruthénois.-History:Existing from at least the 5th century BC, Rodez was founded by the Celts...
and Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
. In 1912, Conrad, then a professor at the École des Mines de Paris conceived the idea of prospecting for metal ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
deposits by using the electrical conductivity of ore rocks to distinguish them from the less conductive surrounding country rocks. One of the first tests was performed in a bathtub which was filled with various rocks for the experiments. In 1919, the brothers signed an agreement with their father in which their father would support their scientific research. These experiments led to an electrical surface-measuring system for mineral exploration known as a "Schlumberger array."
In 1923, the brothers began conducting geophysical surveys in various countries including Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Union of South Africa
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...
, Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
, and the USA. In 1926, Henri George Doll
Henri George Doll
Henri George Doll was a French-American scientist.-Biography:Doll was a leading figure in the development of oil well logging and a key technical leader of the Schlumberger oilfield services company...
(Conrad's son-in-law) joined the group. In 1926, the brothers formed Société de Prospection Electrique to develop the theory that adding resistivity
Resistivity
Electrical resistivity is a measure of how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows the movement of electric charge. The SI unit of electrical resistivity is the ohm metre...
information from deeper formations would increase the effectiveness of the surface prospecting technique. The first office was in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on the rue Fabert.
On 5 September 1927, Henri George Doll and several field engineers ran the first wireline electric log. This log was of the Diefenbach #2905 well, Rig 7 of the Pechelbronn Oil Company at Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
Merkwiller-Pechelbronn is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is notable as the original home of oil sands mining....
in the Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.- History :...
. The well was about 500 meters deep but only the interval from 130m to 270m was logged. A measurement was made every meter. The equipment was stopped, and the logging cable was connected to the surface potentiometer and to a battery power supply to make a measurement. The logging rate was about 50 meters per hour. The Schlumberger brothers called this technique an "Electrical Survey", but the more common name "Well log" was coined a few years later in the United States.
At that time, Pechelbronn was the only oil field known in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. On 28 July 1928, the owners of the oil field signed a contract with the Schlumberger
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
firm to do oil Well logging. The first contract was for 12,000 Francs (about $2600 US dollars) per month. This was the first Well logging
Well logging
Well logging, also known as borehole logging is the practice of making a detailed record of the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole. The log may be based either on visual inspection of samples brought to the surface or on physical measurements made by instruments lowered into the hole...
program.
The Schlumberger
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
company then tried to expand their activities to many other countries, but the attempts were hindered by the worldwide depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. On 15 September 1934, Schlumberger's subsidiary in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
became Schlumberger Well Surveying Corporation (SWSC) with offices in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. Conrad was the chairman, and Marcel was the president. In 1936, Conrad died of a heart attack while returning from a business trip to the Soviet Union. During the German occupation of France, the company headquarters was moved from Paris to Houston. Marcel died in 1953. After World War II, Marcel's son Pierre Schlumberger took over the American company. Pierre Schlumberger was married to the eccentric Sao Schlumberger, during some years the biggest individual customer of haute couture clothing.
In 1955, in recognition of Conrad Schlumberger's outstanding contribution to exploration geophysics, The European Association of Exploration Geophysicists (now European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers) established a Conrad Schlumberger Award
Conrad Schlumberger Award
The Conrad Schlumberger Award is an award given to one of the members of European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers. The award is given each year to one that has made an outstanding contribution over a period of time to the scientific and technical advancement of the geosciences,...
. Each year the Award is presented to a member of the Association who has made an outstanding contribution over a period of time to the scientific and technical advancement of the geosciences, particularly geophysics. Notable recipients of the award include Nigel Anstey
Nigel Anstey
Nigel Allister Anstey, British geophysicist, has made major contributions to seismic exploration, which are the foundations for many of the techniques used in today’s oil and gas exploration. Anstey’s contributions impact every major area of seismic exploration -– from seismic acquisition to...
, Les Hatton
Les Hatton
Les Hatton is a British-born computer scientist and mathematician most notable for his work in failures and vulnerabilities in software controlled systems....
and Michael Schoenberg
Michael Schoenberg
Michael Schoenberg was a theoretical geophysicist noted for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of anisotropy in the real earth and its application to the determination of texture, fracture porosity, and flow properties of reservoir rocks.-Career:Schoenberg received a Ph.D...
, among others.