Distributed Sensors in the Oil and Gas Industry

Specific workshops on distributed optical fibre sensors (DOFS) in the oil and gas industry are organized on a regular basis, such as the Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Workshop on FibreOptic Sensing Applications for Well, Reservoir, and Asset Management. This chapter starts by providing a primer on the relevant stages in the exploration, development, production, and use of hydrocarbon resources. It discusses the challenges in the deployment of optical fibres in the oilfield environment. The chapter describes common methods of installing sensing fibres in this applicationsdomain. It focuses on the main successful applications of DFOS in the industry. The chapter also describes the processes that the hydrocarbons go through from discovery to consumption. The oil and gas industry may be separated into: upstream operations, midstream operations, and downstream operations. A monograph on the interpretation methods used for applying distributed temperature sensing in the oilfield is recommended.