In Part 3 of my previous ‘ChatGPT for Oil & Gas’ series, I explored how users could leverage AI to harness the power of Python without needing any prior coding experience.
The article provided a step-by-step guide on installing VS Code, generating code through ChatGPT, and running it in VS Code to get started.
If you’d like a refresher, you can revisit that blog post here: ChatGPT for Oil and Gas - Part 3: Python
Now, there’s an even smoother approach. Cursor AI, a new app, eliminates the need to switch between VS Code and ChatGPT by embedding AI assistance directly within the coding interface itself.
With Cursor, you can focus more on problem-solving and less on setup, making it ideal for users of any skill level, even those with no coding experience!
Head to https://www.cursor.com/ to download the installer and learn more about Cursor. There’s also plenty of YouTube material to help you get started.
Once installed, you’ll notice that Cursor looks quite similar to VS Code if you reviewed the blog post above. Think of Cursor as ‘VS Code + ChatGPT’ combined into one seamless app.
In the chat window, you can prompt in simple English for what you want, allowing you to be as specific as you like.
Prompt:
<Design a simple game where a geologist character stands on the left side of the screen, ready to throw fossils at an engineer character who stands on the right side. When the player clicks a "Throw" button, the geologist tosses a fossil toward the engineer. >
Prompt:
<<I have a CSV file named wells.csv. Please import this file and create an interactive chart displaying the production profiles over time for the 5 wells. The user should be able to click buttons to enable or disable wells in the current view. The production rate in the source file is in Mscfd; please add an additional axis on the right to also show production in m³/d.>>
In addition, with Cursor you can easily edit code by highlighting the specific section you want to modify. Once highlighted, a contextual window opens, allowing you to make edits. Changes are visually marked: red indicates what’s being removed, and green shows the new additions, making it clear what's been updated.
With Cursor, anyone can now create interactive apps and deploy them on the cloud for a browser-based experience.
Imagine building an app with a responsive chart where users can adjust sliders or click buttons to see real-time updates—similar to the functionality of scroll bars and buttons in Excel, Power BI, or Python-powered Streamlit.
Well, Cursor provides a React development environment that makes this possible, transforming simple English commands into code. Without getting too technical, this means you can build powerful, interactive tools without needing to know programming, making app development accessible to everyone.
You’ll definitely want to dive in and spend some hands-on time with Cursor to get familiar with everything it can do.
To help you get started, I’ve put together a simple demo in this YouTube video that showcases a few easy examples to spark your creativity and get those ideas flowing.
As always, feel free to reach out if you have a project idea you’d like to bring to life or if you're interested in collaborating. I'm here to help turn your vision into reality!
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Alan Mourgues is a Petroleum Reservoir Engineering Consultant with 25 years of international experience. He is the founder of CrowdField — the go-to hub for Oil & Gas subsurface professionals to upskill, freelance, and monetize their expertise. CrowdField brings together a global community through: i) Freelance marketplace for niche talent and task-based solutions; ii) Digital Store & Vault of engineering tools, workflows, and resources; iii) AI Hub showcasing startups, workflows, and use cases; iv) Learning resources including webinars, blogs, and curated datasets. Alan’s mission is to empower professionals to turn knowledge into income and future-proof their careers as the energy transition unfolds.
