THE CATHODIC PROTECTION OF OIL WELL CASINGS

The cathodic protection of oil well casings is a most absorbing branch of the technology and combines in its solution the application of basic electrochemical fundamentals, mathematical analyses and a deductive theory of approach. Other, specialised, problems arise when the cathodic protection of multi‐well arrays in developing oilfields is considered; not the least because of the constantly changing geometry of the oilfield itself. The story of oil well cathodic protection in Kuwait, Arabia, is one adding up to some two decades of calculation, experiment and research, during which time the extent and development of the technique has been continuous. The analytical techniques available for a solution of the many problems involved are discussed in a technical appendix to this article.