The upstream oil and gas industry is investing heavily in search for new reserves or resource plays, new extraction technologies, and advancements in operational automation. Even though this involves some risk, tech-savvy businesses understand that today’s investment can shower massive returns in the future. Regardless of the asset type, companies implement emerging technologies to optimise oil recovery and maximise output.

Abhishek Paul Choudhury, Disruptive Tech Analyst at GlobalData said oil and gas companies are increasingly adopting intelligent automation and other digital enablers to synthesise large amounts of data and derive useful insights to ease complex field activities that have defined the upstream value chain.

“IoT technologies coupled with AI algorithms are in action to screen and discover optimal acreage options, improve subsurface modeling, and enhance drilling performance.”

GlobalData’s latest report, Data is the new oil: how tech transformation can fuel efficiencies in oil & gas, highlights how companies are leveraging emerging technologies to better manage the challenge-laden upstream processes while avoiding risks and generating profits.

Equinor, for example, has developed a machine learning model to analyse mud-gas data to predict the gas to oil ratio of wells as they are drilled. It is written in python and can be embedded into existing commercial petrophysics software. As it happens in real-time, it can act as an alert system when drillers are tapping into uneconomic pay zones.

Mr Paul said as global oil and gas operators look to 2022 budgets, they must balance investor expectations to grow volumes and revenues.

“This can only be mapped with judicious upstream technological adoption that can not only keep downtime at bay but also help explore the function’s true potential to improve yield sustainably while avoiding hazards.”