The present and future of fiber optic sensors for the oilfield service industry: where is there a role?

The international oilfield service industry has used a large variety of sensing devices for the exploration of oil and gas in the last 70 years. These include sensors that range in the measurement of pressure, temperature, nuclear information, resistivity, acoustic, seismic, electric and magnetic fields, including most recently optical sensors. Applications of optical sensors that have been successfully used and the potential future of fiber optic sensors for this industry are reviewed.