It has never been convenient for the oil and gas industry. The price of each barrel of oil that enters the market determines one’s fortune. With every layoff and loss suffered during low oil prices, the industry looks forward to the eventual increase in the price of oil in order to make investments that will produce returns and therefore profits. Long gestation cycles, geopolitical uncertainty, government policies, financial recessions, and natural disasters are just some of the threats that the industry faces in the interim. This is how things have been for more than a century.
Smarter data usage is becoming one of today’s top priorities for oil and gas firms. Although the industry now has access to more data than ever before, it still faces difficulties in realising its full potential, owing to data coming in from a variety of sources, in different formats, and at varying speeds and accuracy.
At GET Global Group, we’re interested in learning how a “data-rich” future will affect our customers and partners’ operations, and how we can help the industry unlock the full value of that data to gain insights, develop forecasts, and, ultimately, make better decisions.
What Does One Understand By Digitalization?
The ability of objects and equipment to communicate and transfer vast volumes of data, known as the Internet of Things (IoT), is ushering in a new age of “Big Data.”
Volume, velocity, variety, and veracity are the four Vs. To put it another way, it refers to massive volumes of data arriving at high speeds in a heterogeneous format of varying degrees of reliability.
Big Data has become so complex that conventional computers and systems are no longer capable of storing, processing, and extracting meaning from it. Advanced analytics must be used to find trends and make predictions in order for the data to be used for better decision making. This data-driven approach is revealing new business models in the oil and gas industry that will provide stakeholders with not only a deeper understanding of activities, but also more control and freedom in managing their assets.
All of these factors – advances in big data technology, improved accessibility, more accurate and inexpensive sensors, and cost-effective and flexible systems that can process and analyse data more easily – are challenging conventional business models and defining the modern digital era.
Progress Of Oil And Gas Industry In The Digital Realm
The oil and gas industry is no stranger to digital technologies. For example, using seismic and well log data, the subsurface teams have been at the forefront of digital transformation, adopting advanced modelling, analytics, and visualisation tools. However, as a result of significant advancements in sensor technology and data storage capacities, the industry as a whole is now confronted with an enormous volume of data coming in from all points along the value chain. The ability to connect and interpret these diverse data sources has not kept up with the exponential growth in data volume and complexity. However, the expansion opens up new possibilities for data to play a bigger role in other fields, beyond the crew working in the oil rig, such as integrating activities through assets and system barriers, improving drilling performance, and optimising production processes.
Supply, Demand, And Product Prices Are All Disrupted
A supply-side instability has triggered one of the industry’s worst downturns. Commodity prices had dropped by more than 70% compared to June 2014 levels at one point. Just when some early signs of recovery have appeared, another disruption may be on the way, this time fuelled by peak oil demand. This disruption would keep hydrocarbon prices under pressure and force energy firms to concentrate more aggressively on portfolio restructuring and playing a larger role in the energy transition.
Rapid Technological Advancements
Platforms, as well as mobility, monitoring, networking, and storage technologies, are becoming more sophisticated, and the ability to process and analyse data quickly is improving agility and supporting real-time decision-making and execution.
Bringing The Digital Revolution To Midstream Oil And Gas Is The Latest Frontier
With the current buzz around emerging innovations, it’s tempting to think of them as a ready-made solution for addressing changing business challenges. For example, by 2030, the industrial Internet of Things, which is part of the larger digital opportunity, is expected to add US$15 trillion to the global economy. However, how can midstream companies not only embrace a digital mentality but also gain real value from going digital for their legacy and new properties when the industry in question is experiencing fundamental change?
Upstream Oil And Gas Is Also Undergoing A Digital Transformation
Industry is adopting technology to reshape its operating environment and reap the benefits of increased productivity, performance, and cost savings. The oil and gas industry is no stranger to this, and it is on its way to being digitally mature. What possible stumbling blocks could there be, and how can they be avoided? A strategic roadmap could aid oil and gas companies in evaluating each operation and identifying digital leaps that will help them achieve clear business goals.
Will Digital Help Become More Or Do Less?
Pricing and access to new assets are also under pressure for oil and gas firms. While a digital strategy will help alleviate some of these pressures, there are still some broader questions to be answered. For example, which tools will be used to create value in the future of oil and gas careers? How will businesses keep up with the rapid rate of innovation? And, perhaps most importantly, what technology adoption strategy would allow companies to not just keep up with the pack, but to leap ahead of it? Is gradual transition the best strategy, or is it a wasted opportunity?
The following are some of the fields with the greatest potential for effects around the value chain:
• Automated Intelligence
• Artificial intelligence-assisted data-driven decisions
• Industrial Internet of Things
• Blockchain
Make The Most Of Your Assets With Real-time Product Optimization
Individually established KPIs are isolated and siloed across wells and process plants in the majority of upstream production operations today. To optimise the production value chain, several different models are needed, and the results of one model do not always take into account the constraints of other models. Digitalization also helps create a real-time solution for maximising output from the sand face to the point of sale. Real-Time Production Optimization (RTPO) takes advantage of low-cost computing, the Internet of Things, and cutting-edge optimization tools to provide full oilfield modelling from the sand face to sales in a single unified optimization model. Upstream oil and gas companies can now increase oil production while reducing gas lift, flare, energy use, and other constraints. By shifting more crude, condensate, or gas from wells to sales export, the Real-Time Production Optimization approach helps minimise deferred production.
Remote Condition Monitoring Based On Data Optimises Offshore Maintenance And Lowers Costs
Advanced capabilities allowed by the integration and digitalization of upstream oil and gas operations will help in significant ways as the global oil and gas industry seeks to increase margins by reducing production costs wherever possible. Remote condition monitoring of well-site equipment, especially offshore, is an excellent example.
Oil and gas companies must change their businesses to remain competitive in the modern world, and digitalization will help them do so. At GET Global Group, we ensure that our clients are all caught up.
