1990s: Revolutionary Products
Timeline: 1990–1999
As computing power and expertise grew, Schlumberger was able to launch several revolutionary products.
- The FMI fullbore formation microimager now enabled seemingly photographic images of the borehole.
- The Platform Express integrated wireline logging tool introduced a much faster and more cost-effective way of achieving the same results as the triple-combo logging system, speeding up rig-up, logging, calibration, and processing.
- The launch of the third-generation nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tool in 1995 refined reservoir evaluation still further, facilitating the identification of thin, permeable, or water-free productive zones.
- Sonic imaging also developed to the extent that Schlumberger completed its first commercial job using the technology in 1996.
- At the start of the decade, geosteering was used for the first time in horizontal wells, using logging data acquired while drilling a borehole to adjust the path of the drill to keep it within the producible hydrocarbon deposit.
A spate of acquisitions helped the company grow and diversify its activities. PRAKLA-SEISMOS, GeoQuest Systems, Oilphase, and Camco International were some of the companies that became part of Schlumberger. Strategic collaborations were also forged, such as the Omnes, a joint venture between Schlumberger Cable & Wireless for global communications and information technology services, and the M-I L.L.C drilling fluids company in a venture with Smith International.
In 1995, Schlumberger launched Integrated Project Management (IPM), which today continues to provide the expertise and processes required to improve performance and increase efficiency by integrating all the oilfield services and technologies needed by a project.
Once again, Schlumberger was able to support pioneering science, by providing logging services to the German Continental Deep Drilling Program, or KTB, examining various geological processes. This illustration of the continuing close ties between the company and the wider scientific community would have pleased Henri Doll, who died in Paris on July 25, 1991, shortly before his 90th birthday. He is buried, as he wished, next to his mentor, Conrad Schlumberger, in a small cemetery at the Schlumberger family estate in Normandy, France.
| Year | Event |
| 1990 | An array induction imager tool becomes the first to use mathematical inversion techniques to create images of electrical resistivity around the borehole |
| 1991 | Acquires majority share (51%) of PRAKLA-SEISMOS and merges it with Geco to create Geco-Prakla Henri-Georges Doll dies in Paris shortly before his 90th birthday Uses geosteering for the first time to plan the drilling path in horizontal wells Introduces the FMI microimager |
| 1992 | Introduces CMR Combinable Magnetic Resonance tool Acquires GeoQuest Systems, Inc. Converts SINet to TCP/IP and world wide web capability |
| 1993 | Creates GeoQuest product line by merging Schlumberger Data Services, Finder Graphics, and GeoQuest Systems, Inc. Launches Integrated Drilling Evaluation and Logging (IDEAL) System and ran first compressional sonic logs while drilling |
| 1994 | Introduces Oil Partnering Network (OpNet) in the North Sea to facilitate collaboration within the oil sector |
| 1995 | Acquires AEG meter Intera Technologies Corp petroleum division, including its ECLIPSE reservoir study team and reservoir technologies Launches IPM as an independent service and engineering product line Creates Omnes joint venture between Schlumberger and Cable & Wireless Introduces Platform Express tool, SIMPLER Safe Integrated Modular Performant Lean Environment Rig, ARC5 LWD tools, and MAXIS Express onshore wellsite surface instrumentation Commercializes CMR tool Schlumberger opens Sugar Land campus outside Houston |
| 1996 | Conceives real-time reservoir management for improving hydrocarbons recovery and providing high-end IT solutions to industry Acquires Oilphase reservoir sampling and analysis company Completes first commercial sonic imaging job |
| 1997 | Introduces ClearFRAC polymer-free fracturing fluids |
| 1998 | Reorganizes Schlumberger product lines into geographical-based business groups later named GeoMarkets Completion, at Wytch Farm, UK, of the world's first extended-reach well with a departure of 10 km Acquires Camco International, a US completion products company Introduces PS PLATFORM production services platform and HRLA high-resolution laterolog array Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development (SEED) established as a global nonprofit educational outreach organization Celebrates the 50th anniversary of its Schlumberger–Doll Research Center in Ridgefield, Connecticut |
| 1999 | Enters joint venture with Smith International, creating the world's largest drilling fluids company, M-I L.L.C (60% Smith International, 40% Schlumberger) Opens Schlumberger Stavanger Research Center in Norway, focusing on seismic image analysis and interpretation research Deploys Houston remote connectivity teleport |
