In the modern age, the ability for businesses to adapt to new technologies is a critical indication of growth, as well as a prerequisite for success. Extensive online marketplaces, virtual access to customer services, sophisticated data collection and analysis, and forward leaps in surgical technologies and medicine are obvious positive changes that new technology brings to the economy and our daily lives. The rapid advances in electric and even driverless vehicles are the clearest representation of the impact of the next-generation consumer technology on the energy industry. The modern oil & gas industry demands that companies lean into fully leveraging these technologies, or risk the danger of being left behind in the 20th century. While it may appear that these technologies bypass the conventional oil & gas sector, the reality is those parallel advancements in AI, robotics, and 3D printing are revolutionizing oil & gas. Considering the enormous scale at which oil & gas facilities operate, they require the aid of technology to further boost unit performance, while increasing process safety, reducing operating costs, and minimizing equipment downtime.
Large technology companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are helping optimize both upstream and downstream businesses. It is expected that by 2025, the global oil & gas industry will spend approximately $4 billion annually in AI technology to improve production rates and resolve operational and efficiency issues at facilities. Oil and gas companies are increasingly bringing data scientists into their organizations to supplement their already strong engineering workforce, as well as bolstering employee training in data analytics and statistical analysis. AI is being leveraged to generate well log data by the aid of dynamic drilling equipment, improving subsurface data analysis, and predicting exceptionally more accurate oil distribution within reservoirs. AI is also increasingly being used to accurately predict operational upsets and optimizing maintenance timing for equipment such as pumps, compressors, and distillation towers, which will help minimize unexpected shutdowns and potential safety or environmental incidents. Chevron has partnered with Microsoft to utilize their HoloLens platform, along with Dynamic 365 Remote Assist, to enable remote troubleshooting and inspection of refinery equipment without any need for the technical experts to be present at the facility, saving time, money, and emissions from reducing personnel travel(1). Other companies are using camera-equipped flying drones for the inspection of equipment during maintenance periods to help minimize human entry into confined spaces, which reduces the risk of the personnel injury (2). There are now viable applications of robots being used to replace conventional methods of reactor catalyst unloadings to maximize safety, which could also improve productivity as the robot can work continuously without any downtime. Process sensors such as wireless temperature and pressure monitors on heat exchangers collect historical data inexpensively to monitor operating parameters for increased data collection and maintenance frequency optimization. Recent studies have determined that 3D printing tools and equipment will be a prominent feature in the oil & gas sector(3). Repairing complex process equipment using 3D printed objects to minimize expensive downtime instead of waiting for a manufacturer to provide the piece would be a massive improvement for the industry.
There is no doubt that new technology and digital tools will both operationally and financially improve upstream and downstream businesses(4), which will translate to improvements in energy efficiencies as well. Such advancements are already showing visible impact, and will increasingly require keeping up with escalating expectations in operational excellence and environmental performance. Implementation must be both rapid and flawless, keeping up with other industrial sectors, if not even exceeding their pace to stay competitive.
The industry thus far has proven capable of accepting new technological changes, and further collaboration with technology giants such as Microsoft and Amazon will only accelerate their adoption rate and an updated base expectation of use across the global industry. Leaving us are the days when oil & gas was synonymous with a traditional slow moving giant, tightly grasping onto the glory days of yester-years. For the first time in decades exciting new developments in oil & gas is afoot. It is the dawn of a new high-tech era in oil & gas.
* Dr. Mina Alyani is a Senior Process Technical Contact at Imperial. Before joining Imperial she served as a postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley and as a research assistant at University of British Columbia with a focus on heterogeneous catalysis technologies in various chemical processes