Real-Life Math
Many people think of the Middle East when they think of oil production.
This area is the major oil-producing region of the world. But it isn't
the only place where black gold is taken from the ground.
Many countries,
including Canada and the U.S., have active oil and gas exploration and production
companies. New wells are constantly being drilled to look for more of this
precious resource.
Finding and extracting oil is no easy feat. It takes
many engineers and complex problem solving to figure out how to drill and
extract oil from the ground. Solving these problems, of course, involves math.
"Our
students need to know the sciences and have a strong background in math,"
says Maria Barrufet. She is a petroleum engineering professor. "If they don't
have the fundamentals in math, they're going to be in trouble at school
and afterwards at work."
As a drilling engineer, you are currently
studying the number of wells that were started in the past as compared to
today. These are some of the statistics you find:
(Statistics based
on figures from the Energy Information Administration on Petroleum)
Year:
1973
Oil wells drilled: 642
Gas wells drilled: 1,067
Dry wells:
5,952
Total: 7,661 wells drilled
Year:
1980
Oil wells drilled: 1,764
Gas: 2,081
Dry: 9,039
Total:
12,884
Year: 2000
Oil wells: 151
Gas:
583
Dry: 1,389
Total: 2,123
- How many oil wells were drilled in 1973 as compared to 1980?
- How many more total wells were drilled in 1980 than in 2000?