Advanced techniques for crude oil production
Considering the importance of oil to the global economy, it is surprising how little attention was paid to last week's report by the German Energy Watch Group. The news that world wide oil supply has gone into terminal decline and will soon be outstripped by demand seems to prompt only shrugs and a deft change in topic.
According to the report, oil production probably peaked in 2006. Top international oil companies – the so called oil majors – have collectively been unable to increase production for the last ten years "despite an unprecedented rise in oil prices."
But detailed simulations of how oil reservoirs are drained, run on high-performance computer grids, are helping fight the decline.
Using grid computing, scientists have developed models of the body's most vital organ to devise better treatment methods.