1. Introduction

Unit 1b builds on a topic that has been touched on previously: snake wells, which is a technology introduced by the Shell company to extract hard-to-access deposits of oil. Oil is one type of fossil fuel that current economies are dependent on, as it is one of the primary energy sources. However, all fossil fuel deposits will one day be depleted. This fact applies to oil as well. It is obvious that large, easily extractable deposits of oil are becoming rare. The remaining deposits are often distributed across larger areas and over numerous smaller pockets rather than one large. In order to extract oil from these places, technicians had to find a way to get this oil economically and without excessively damaging the environment. The leading text in Unit 1b will provide you with details of the snake well technology, explaining what role smart technologies play in this concept. Within this context, you will have an opportunity to come across some language features that are typical of technical texts, making them sound more formal.

 

Contents:

Unit 1b revises and introduces some grammar points used to produce formal technical texts:

  • Past Participles used for reductions of passive clauses:

The Champion West oilfield, (which is) located 90 km off the coast of Brunei, is Shell´s flagship project.

= Located 90 km off the coast of Brunei, the Champion West oilfield is Shell´s flagship project.

  • §   Referencing: It vs. this/that:

Special imaging software generates detailed computer models of underground geology and oil reservoirs.

It has been developed by the technicians of the Shell company.

This enables drills to hit a target far underground that is less than two metres across.