Challenges in oil and gas industry – Trends and Tools

There has been an anticipation of a decline in the supply. Many have been envisaging it, in the past decade, and at the wake of regulation of production by OPEC and increasing focus on Shale gas exploration by the United States and the divestment done by major oil and gas companies in the last few years. There seems to be a myriad of challenges in oil and gas industry. But the real question is: Is there any viable solution?

There is no single solution but many. And, each has its own advantage. Before we discuss them to let us learn about the roadblocks which make the industry a volatile one.

How do we explain the intrinsic volatility in the oil and gas industry? Here below are given 6 such challenges which explain why the industry is volatile, at least, currently.

1. Investment Scenario – A lot of oil and gas companies are looking to divest from the explorations projects. One of the factors is said to be the glaring number of climate lawsuits. It is interesting to note that the companies are still working on the own-operate model, on the same hand. It is also suspected the World Bank’s decision to suspend further investment in upstream projects has also hit the industry hard. Hence, a lot of companies are looking forward to M&As and collaboration.
2. Technological Disruption – Technology is changing the way the oil and gas industry operates. The oil and gas industry still needs to adapt to these changes and hence the disruption, which is a welcome one, by technology is a challenge for the industry.
3. Maintenance – Preventive maintenance is a key challenge. There is still a scope of up-scaling the RoI by 30-50 times if the technological changes are fully operational in the industry. Till then, the industry is losing a billion dollars globally.
4. Performance Gap – The differentiated capability gap is making it impossible for the industry to unlock the $200 billion.
5. Environmental Challenges – Oil and Gas Companies have to make sure that there are lesser carbon emissions as the standards are becoming rather stricter. As the industry is a major consumer of water and other natural resources get affected during the exploration projects there is a need to strictly measure that overproduction doesn’t lead to an irreparable damage to the environment.
6. Talent Deficit – The industry is facing a major talent deficit. There seems to be a mammoth gap between the desired skills and the talent pool willing to enter the oil and gas industry.

Here are the technology trends which can actually help in mitigating all the problems faced by the industry. Let us take a look at the tools in hand.

1. Collaboration – We can do together what we fail to do at individual levels. There is a need to realise that we can collectively address and face all the problems which the industry is facing. If you are looking for a local vendor, you are unable to find. If you are looking for better communication across the verticals in the industry, there is a lack of such seamless communication. Isn’t it? We, at Energy Dais, having realised this problem have meticulously addressed it by creating oil and gas industry’s professionals’ exclusive portal. Be it tenders, RFQs, communication with companies, finding local vendors at ease, or to find working opportunities in the oil and gas industry. We have everything in one place. Check out our website for an effective collaboration today!
2. Embrace Technology – Without a doubt, technology is taking us forward. Surprisingly, oil and gas industry was the first in the world to embrace technology in the early 80s but it soon returned to traditional methods of doing business. There is an urgent need to pay heed to technological solutions. We need to focus our attention to resolve problems by investing in technology and increasing overall returns in the industry. Here are the major technologies which are reshaping the industry:
   1. Blockchain to monitor financial spends – This disrupted ledger keeper can help bring more transparency and increase profitability if the industry chooses to incorporate Blockchain technology for all the financial transactions.
   2. Internet of Things for a better connectivity and response – Click here to learn in detail all the problems which can be tackled by IoT.
   3. Data is the ‘King’ – Click here as we have extensively covered how data analytics is helping the oil and gas industry.
3. Social Media – The issue here is that even if the oil and gas industry is doing a lot for the environment it is not being conveyed to people. It is really important for each and every oil and gas company to voice their opinions on social media. Social media is an extremely powerful to engage with the populace.

There are challenges but there are solutions at our disposal as well. We need to just realise that the tools in hand can help the industry immensely.

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