Since the oil price crash in the year 2014, the oil and gas industry has been gasping. Low oil price combined with increasing production cost and many other factors has made it difficult for companies to survive. Players in the oil and gas industry need to innovate in order to stay competitive. The following technological advancements if applied in the industry can help it to flourish and shape the future of oil and gas production.
- SMART DRILLING- Experts believe that incorporating smart drilling technology in oil and gas production will be the key to success. This will require a combination of technology and thinking that can imagine how firms plan and execute a more harmonized approach to the early well life. Smart drilling technology is no magic wand and it is important to make sure that equipment selection, design, analysis, etc. are aligned by operational expertise. Smart drilling technology promises to give a solid foothold to keep the industry going longer.
- BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY- One technology that is set to change the world is the Blockchain technology. In fact, it has taken over many industries by storm. The only task that the oil and gas industry needs to perform is quickly adopting the Blockchain into its operations. Considering the huge volumes of data that oil and gas companies generate, it becomes a burden and not an asset. Blockchain reduces the risk of error, fraud, and invalid transactions and makes financial transactions more efficient. Blockchain also benefits both the upstream and the downstream in the oil and gas industry. It helps to schedule equipment maintenance and manages the exploration acreage records and also offers a single record of transactions between parties. Distributed ledgers are a great way of creating transparent and efficient activities like demurrage and secondary distribution delivery documentation.
- SMART OIL FIELD TECHNOLOGY- All the companies in the oil and gas industry are working continuously towards achieving more efficiency and reducing the production cost in the oil field. This goal is attainable only with the help of “smart oilfield” technology. This technology helps to provide critical data in real-time without suffering any downtime. An ideal smart oilfield would seamlessly connect all the systems and hardware platforms across all the fields of operations like exploration, drilling, and production, etc. Environmental challenges like extreme temperatures are a big hindrance in the way of oil and gas companies. Providing uninterrupted services under such circumstances without the technicians and workers is possible only by adopting smart oil field technology.
- OFFSHORE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION- The oil and gas industry has long been associated with legacy systems which help it to function. However, with the advancement of technology, this sector has also slowly started transforming. More and more organizations are looking forward to adopting new technological methodologies for oil and gas production. Modern technologies have helped them to up the security and safety and balance the requirements of uptime. If organizations view the innovations as an opportunity to improve their functionalities and operational efficiency, it will take them sky high. The path to digital transformation will help them to reduce production cost while achieving higher production efficiency. And if this goal is attained, the future is very bright for the oil and gas sector.
- IIOT- The Industrial Internet of Things is definitely the future of the oil and gas industry. Just like it reformed the lives of consumers with sensors and software, it has the potential to transform this whole industry too. The benefits of IIOT can be seen in the form of improved operational efficiency, increased revenue, real-time data, reduced risk, and environmental footprint (IIOT can reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas industry).
It cannot be told with utmost certainty when the prices of oil would come up or remain at the current level for how long. However, one thing is certain and it is the need for shifting focus on greater efficiency. But while achieving efficiency it is also important to keep in mind the compliance and risk factors associated. Companies that would move towards adopting the new technologies for improvement will survive, and the ones who stand still will sink dangerously.
The best solution for all the oil and gas companies would be to quickly adopt the technological inventions into their operations. But at the time they need to keep vigilance and not risk the environment or compromise uptime and compliance.