Throughout my career in the Oil & Gas Business, I have come across many situations in which referencing technical materials helped add value in solving problems. The internet and SPE papers provide a wealth of knowledge, but for many topics I found value in my personal library of books.
Over the past 18 years, I have collected several hundred books across a broad spectrum of topics related to oil and gas. When folks visit my office in Oklahoma, they are often amazed at how many books I have. Some books have helped more than others. For all those who are interested, below is how I built my personal library:
1) University Text Books - My very first books were required reading as a Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering student. I made the mistake of giving a bunch of them away, only to have to buy them again years later when it came time to take the PE Exam to become a licensed professional petroleum engineer. Some of the books have been more useful than others later in my career. Regardless of your situation, if you plan to work in the Oil & Gas Business for decades, do not give your petroleum engineering books away until much later in your career - when you have a better understanding of which books are applicable and which can be passed along for others to enjoy.
2) Acquire Books from Others - Often, when someone is graduating, changing jobs, moving, or retiring, they will get rid of their books or throw them away. If you see this happening, gladly offer to help by accepting their books. People are often happy to give you books that they are not using. A few months ago, my wife and I donated over 500 books to charity because we moved. We were happy to give books away to let other people enjoy them. I gave away many oil & gas books, but not my favorites.
3) Amazon.com - Amazon.com is the world's largest online bookstore and has many oil & gas books. One great aspect of Amazon is that you can search inside the book before you buy. This way you have an idea of what you are purchasing. Many petroleum engineering books are very expensive, often $100 to over $200 per book. Building your library can get very expensive, easily costing thousands of dollars. I cannot tell you how many times I have spent over $150 on a book only to be disappointed because it did not contain information to help with real-world situations. In fact, I saw such a void in providing practical knowledge for people in the oil & gas industry that I decided to write a few books myself. My first book to be published is called
Oilfield Survival Guide. During the publishing process, I insisted that this book be as inexpensive as possible to ensure that anyone that wanted it could afford to buy it anywhere in the world. Oilfield Survival Guide is available on Amazon at
amazon.com/dp/069281308X and at Barnes & Noble.
4) SPE.org - SPE has a great bookstore that I have purchased many books from. I highly recommend checking it out at
http://store.spe.org/ SPE Members receive up to a 50% discount on bookstore items. Many books have the option to preview a PDF online before you buy. I am very hesitant to buy a book that I cannot preview, especially if it is expensive. Unless someone recommends a book or it is required reading, I will not buy a book without the ability to look inside and read a few pages.
5) Used Books - If a book is too expensive to buy new, look for opportunities to purchase a pre-owned copy. Many websites provide the ability to buy used copies of petroleum engineering books. My favorite is of course Amazon.com. If you are working outside of the United States, you can look into Amazon Global or ship to a virtual U.S. address and they can forward anything you buy in the United States to an international address.
6) eBooks - Many oil & gas books are now available in digital format. Although I prefer hard copy books, I do see value in having access to a digital version. This is the future of books and accessing knowledge on a Kindle or Nook tablet is a great option. It is also a lot easier to carry a library of books around on a Kindle compared to physical copies. In the oil & gas business, travel is part of the job and digital books make it easier to have access to your library wherever you are.
7) Goodreads - If you like reading books, consider checking out
www.goodreads.com They have helpful lists of what users think are the best oil & gas books.
I hope this helps others who are interested in building their own resource library of oil & gas books.
Thank you
Matt