The Role of Digitalization in Decarbonizing the Oil and Gas Industry

As the Oil & Gas industry journeys towards net zero carbon emissions, a lot needs to be done, one of which is the adoption of digital transformation across companies. Decarbonization requires a transformational shift in the way companies operate, how they source, use, consume and think about energy and feedstocks. If the Oil & Gas sector will continue to exist, it must carry out its activities in the safest possible way and digitalizing it will help in achieving this. A survey by Newsweek shows that areas where transformative technologies are having the biggest impact are production-related, operations and maintenance, enhanced recovery, fracking/tight reservoirs, and exploitation at greater depths. Luis Abril of Minsait opined that digital technology enables companies to extract more value from data, using new platforms to share data with the entire organization, suppliers, contractors, and partners. The real-time visualization of data helps optimize decision making. Big data can be analyzed to find answers to questions such as: What piece of equipment is showing signs of wear and should be replaced? What sort of predictive maintenance can be leveraged? What is the most effective fracking approach for this well? AI helps to reduce routine flaring, employ methane capture, optimize production and reservoir management using digital tools such as IoT sensors, digital twins, and virtual reality to model scenarios, monitor operations, track emissions, energy usage and proactively maintain equipment, produce lower-emission products by moving from one hydrocarbon to another (e.g., from coal to natural gas) or creating another product (such as biofuels or syngas). Transformative technologies, particularly IoT, mobility and cloud applications are going to have a profound effect on the future of the oil and gas sector. Investment in these technologies cost a lot which might be difficult for private companies, but it is worth the money in the long run.