INDUSTRY FOCUS


Trends in the global oil and gas industry


Around the world, the oil and gas industry is seizing opportunity from the challenges posed by such factors as rapid technological change and the need to cut costs. Vanya Dragomanovich reports on what new technologies can bring to the sector, and asks how companies can ensure their workers’ skills keep pace.


T


raditionally heavy on manual labour, the oil and gas industry is slowly becoming more data driven, with a large number of the jobs that are currently performed by


humans gradually being shifted to robots, drones and software packages. To keep up with the changes, those in the industry will have to


acquire new skills, industry sources have said. A similar process is taking place across many manufacturing


industries. Some, like aircraft production, have adapted to it faster than the more traditionally minded oil and gas industry. The process is being further slowed down by regulatory changes and opposition from labour unions, but these two factors will not be enough to change the general direction in which the industry is going. “At present, the oil and gas industry is still highly labour intensive,


but, like other manufacturing industries, it is becoming data driven. What we will see in the next two, three, potentially four, decades is that all manual labour will eventually be replaced by robotic processes, automation and digitalisation,” said Alexander Avanth, a future-education specialist and expert in 21st-century competences at Danish firm Dare Disrupt, which analyses how technology changes affect different industries and helps them to prepare for those changes.


Key technologies In its Technology Outlook 2025, oil and gas industry advisory firm DNV-GL identified several technologies that would affect the industry most over the next decade. It highlighted the analysis of big data, the use of drones to inspect pipelines and oil rigs, the use of robots to automate drilling of new wells, and 3-D printing. Big data, along with the Internet of Things (a term frequently


bandied around the industry at present), basically means putting to good use the information that oil companies have accumulated over the years. While drilling, these companies typically record a wealth of data, such as temperature, pressure in the well, and viscosity. The volume of information grows daily. If this data is analysed


properly, it can be used not only to adjust the process of extracting oil so it is most efficient, but also to predict where there may be failures and when those failures are likely to occur. The software for analysis is created by specialist companies – or,


in the case of the top oil firms, in house – but the staff capable of reading and understanding the analysis are still trained in the oil companies. As with the technologies mentioned previously, using this type of software requires both an understanding of oil and gas extraction and the ability to use new digital platforms. “The situation you have now is that, if you are in the labour


market, skills you learned five years ago still serve you well, but skills you learned ten years ago are quickly becoming obsolete,” said Alexander Avanth. The situation is similar for the other technologies taking hold in


the oil and gas industry. For instance, small unmanned aircraft (or drones) are being used increasingly to inspect pipelines and monitor oil platforms and onshore wells. Where previously a person had to climb outside a rig to investigate potential mechanical problems, inspections can now be done remotely, using a drone. In the case of pipelines, this means that wide geographic areas can be monitored without the need to send out crews.


14 | Re:locate | Summer 2017


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