One of the ways forward-thinking oil and gas companies are facing industry challenges is by investing in high-end data analytics platforms that can create real-time business intelligence (BI). The goal is to capture and analyze data that will lead to improved exploration efforts, oil recovery, drilling accuracy, project delivery and equipment maintenance and safety.
Though paying careful attention to data is an approach that certainly delivers its due rewards, the exercise does not come without it challenges, including, especially, building a system to handle such huge volumes of data. The proliferation of sensor technology means that each oil field can generate huge numbers of unique data points. Upstream operations are particularly complex, involving both structured and unstructured data that multiplies exponentially every day. Storing and archiving these huge datasets which can scale to terabytes of data per day, along with analyzing and converting them into actual business insight has become an entire industry for itself.
Organizations should interpret and convert all of this information into actionable insights. The goal is to develop highly specific, customized and reliable solutions that fit directly into enterprise business KPIs. Sometimes just ONE timely insight can more than pay for the entire project.
Which Well? Where? When?
Traditionally, there can be various IT systems in an oil or gas field that manage data-related tasks. For example, consider a hypothetical scenario (note that the real-world scenarios are much more complex):
A network of IoT (Internet of Things) sensors is usually installed for each well which are used to detect problems at wellheads. A second system shows each well’s production volume and a third system is implemented for job scheduling.
The problem is that these systems are not connected. They have all the data, but no business intelligence to quickly determine what needs to be done. In this scenario, when a problem rises, someone on the team has to manually look up the information, determine how to proceed, and then schedule the right resources to get to the job site. Meanwhile, the clock keeps ticking and millions of dollars in downtime can quickly be lost due to a non-productive state.
BI tools provide timely, actionable insights. Sometimes, the project can pay for itself almost instantly because the cost of downtime is very significant.
Where Are the Operational Bottlenecks?
Whether you’re an oil exploration, oilfield services or midstream organization, you are probably dealing with a lot of information and competing priorities. Business Intelligences tools can give you a birds-eye view of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and anomaly alerts such as:
- Oil production levels per job site or wellhead
- Optimized predictive maintenance scheduling
- Oilfield rental equipment usage levels
- Resource utilization rates
- Project job costing
- Inventory replenishment needs
Strategic Business Intelligence
It’s clear that business intelligence tools can help organizations react quicker and more efficiently, but the real value comes from building data-driven insights into strategy:
- Where should you expand operations?
- Where are the opportunities that increase profits?
- Are there services that you should stop offering and instead outsource that service to a partner?
Business Intelligence is Becoming Essential
Information is nearly useless if it’s delivered in reports after-the-fact. You need accurate data-driven insights in time to make informed decisions. What wasn’t even possible a few years ago is quickly becoming a business essential for energy industry executives.
Contact us to learn how you can improve your organization in a data-driven manner.