Oilfield equipment identification apparatus

2081908 9117514 PCTABS00008 An apparatus for identifying oilfield equipment, including the maintenance of usage histories for the equipment and recommending whether the equipment is to be used in a prospective application based on prospective application and usage history. A portable encapsulated passive circuit (9) capable of transmitting an identification code is affixed to a piece of oilfield equipment (J). The circuit is activated by a portable reader (5) which receives and decodes the identification code and transmits it to a central computer. The central computer verifies the reader (5) and the existence of the equipment (J) in the database and retrieves the usage history for the equipment. Based on the usage history, the prospective application and guidelines for usage of equipment, the computer determines the advisability of using the equipment (J) in the prospective application and transmits the recommendation back to the portable reader (5).