Dake's Legacy

Laurie Dake published the first edition of his second book some 15 years ago in 1994. At that time he had practiced as a reservoir engineer for 30 years. Sadly he is no longer with us but evidence of his legacy remains in that rarely are his books absent from the technical library of current practising reservoir engineers. However, there will be no third book addressing the challenges faced by those engineers in the 21st Century.

Although contentious at times, his wisdom of reservoir engineering knowledge is captured with wit and style in his writing. Laurie Dake's books were uncompromising in technical integrity. That integrity has no use by date. But to use his books only as a technical reference would be to miss an opportunity to hear the voice of experience articulating a practising reservoir engineer's 'Code of Practice'. May be, if there had been a third book, Laurie would have revisited this aspect. With his candid writing it is possible that, for some in the industry, it would have made difficult reading.

The following pages are an invitation for the reader to reflect and comment on some of the aspects of the practice of reservoir engineering about which Laurie wrote so eloquently.