Schlumberger has long-standing expertise in downhole measurements and reservoir characterization delivered through its innovative technologies and petrotechnical services to provide in-depth understanding of the reservoir and its detailed characteristics. Schlumberger scientists have played a key role in the development of formation evaluation technologies.

Schlumberger scientific advisor Oliver Mullins has been honored with the 2015 Gold Medal for Technical Achievement by the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA), a global nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the science of petrophysics and formation evaluation.

Mullins, who has authored more than 200 technical papers such as “The Dynamics of Reservoir Fluids and Their Substantial Systematic Variations,” joined Schlumberger in 1986. He follows in the footsteps of another Schlumberger scientist Henri Georges Doll who received SPWLA’s first Gold Medal in 1966.  Doll, a pioneer in the development of well logging, joined Schlumberger in 1926 and went on to develop the first equipment to survey a drill hole and run the first log.

The annual SPWLA Gold Medal for Technical Achievement Award recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals such as Mullins and Doll for formation evaluation work that has resulted in significant and long-lasting impact to the technology used in reservoir characterization.

At Schlumberger, education, research and knowledge sharing are at the center of the organization. During this year's 56th annual SPWLA conference, Schlumberger experts presented 29 technical papers. To foster the next generation of petrophysicists, Schlumberger is the exclusive sponsor of the SPWLA 2015 Inaugural Student Oral Paper Competition, which gives both undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to present their research projects to leading industry experts.

Earlier this year, Schlumberger contributed $10,000 as seed money to the SPWLA Foundation to establish a new memorial fund for student scholarships and grants in memory of Jacques Tabanou (1942-2008), an eminent engineering advisor and leading petrophysicist, interpretation, and resistivity expert, who worked for Schlumberger for 43 years. The memorial fund will be used by academic institutions to cover the cost of tuition, books and fees for students who are junior level or higher or graduate students who have demonstrated achievements in the field of formation evaluation.