1. A method for selecting positions within a formation from which to extract samples of the formation, comprising: in a computer, selecting a zone from at least one formation; in a computer, calculating at least one statistical measure of at least one petrophysical measurement made within the zone with respect to position along the selected zone; in the computer, selecting a predetermined number of formation sample positions at randomly selected locations along the selected zone; in the computer, calculating the at least one statistical measure for the randomly selected positions; in the computer, using a Monte Carlo iteration performed a predetermined number of times, randomly reselecting the locations along the selected zone and recalculating the at least one statistical measure for the randomly reselected locations until the at least one statistical measure for the randomly reselected locations is a maximum for a user selected statistical criterion applied to the at least one statistical measure of at least one petrophysical measurement with respect to position along the selected zone; and using the randomly reselected locations from when the at least one statistical measure for the randomly reselected positions is a maximum as the formation sample positions.