There’s probably no other industry like Oil & Gas (O&G). It’s complex, assets-intensive, and operates amid geopolitical tensions and highly fluctuating demand and price volatility. 

Players in this industry operate and create value across upstream, midstream, and downstream supply chains. And regardless of where they are in the supply chain, they struggle to extract value from operations and survive in today’s highly competitive and digitally-connected world. 

However, every cloud has a silver lining - at Kellton, we believe by embodying the right set of tools and technologies, the industry can achieve new milestones in performance and productivity.

In this blog, we’ll dig deeper into the top challenges that the industry faces and how Kellton’s in-house capabilities can help companies like yours achieve increased transparency and productivity across its processes.

First, the key challenges that slow down the growth potential of the O&G industry:

• Data integration and management: Oil & Gas companies generate troves of data every passing hour. According to Cisco, a typical offshore oil platform generates between 1 TB and 2 TB of data per day. Data is generated across multiple sources/locations, such as exploration, production, equipment maintenance, etc.
  
  Integrating and managing this sheer volume of data is turning into a major challenge for organizations, whether they are operating upstream, midstream, or downstream. The sheer volume, velocity, and variety of data information can overwhelm traditional data storage and management systems. The lack of robust data integration and management capabilities impedes an organization’s ability to identify common bottlenecks, predict trends and maintenance requirements, and drive business results.


• Advanced analytics and predictive modeling: Leaders across industries are increasingly investing in data analytics to improve performance and business results. Oil & Gas companies can accelerate their transformation in the digital era by leveraging advanced analytics and predictive modeling techniques.
  
  However, a multitude of factors hinder their progress; the most notable ones being their inability to generate, store, and transmit data at the speed of business. The situation is exacerbated by a heavy reliance on traditional IT solutions, which were not built to handle and make sense of the enormous amounts of data that the industry generates these days.


• Cybersecurity and data protection: A cyberattack or data leak can lead to operational disruption, reputational damage, or potential environmental and safety hazards. According to EY, “As the entire operating systems of oil and gas companies come online and connect seamlessly with the Internet of Things (IoT), their vulnerability and susceptibility to cyber attack increase exponentially. Digitalization must, therefore, be simultaneously implemented with a robust cybersecurity framework.” However, the truth is the industry still operates with outdated technologies. And that limits its ability to identify and deal with modern-day sophisticated attacks.


• Talent and workforce management: Attracting, developing, and retaining skilled talent in the oil and gas industry is an ongoing challenge. The sector requires a diverse range of professionals, including engineers, geologists, data scientists, and cybersecurity experts. However, the industry faces an aging workforce, a shortage of skilled professionals, and a competitive talent market. Managing this talent gap and ensuring the continuous development of the workforce is crucial for addressing the data and performance challenges faced by oil and gas companies.

Oil and gas companies confront several data and performance challenges in their pursuit of operational excellence and profitability. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach encompassing robust data integration and management systems, data quality controls, advanced analytics capabilities, robust cybersecurity measures, and effective talent management strategies. Overcoming these challenges will enable oil and gas companies to unlock the full potential of their data assets and make informed decisions.

Modern-day disruptive technologies promise robust solutions to these challenges. However, a lack of a clear strategy and navigating the entire landscape without an experienced guide (read: an IIoT consulting and development partner) can halt the progress of your digital transformation project. That’s where Kellton comes into the picture.

McKinsey research shows that, while almost every company has been running digitization projects across various parts of its operations, 70 percent of them have not moved beyond the pilot phase.

Presenting Optima - an integrated digital enterprise solution designed to help assets-rich industries, like O&G, eliminate data silos and drive business results.

What is Optima?

It’s Kellton’s product built to revolutionize the way assets-intensive industries operate and deliver results. It combines powerful technologies, such as IIoT, artificial intelligence, edge computing, and advanced analytics, and utilizes real-time data for domain-driven decision-making. As a unified, integrated platform built on a microservices architecture, Optima is highly configurable, customizable, and scalable. Companies can deploy it on-premises or on the Cloud to enable frictionless integration and automation of workflow and processes.

How does Optima help the O&G industry?

At Kellton, we have built the Optima platform to enable our Oil&Gas clients to break data and departmental silos and optimize data and processes to drive automation and productivity. Teams in exploration and production and across supply chains can leverage the platform to connect their complex landscapes and capture data more seamlessly. The platform also helps with predictive maintenance so the downtime can be reduced and equipment can perform optimally.

The platform allows its users to deploy its innovative solutions across production survivance, production enhancement, artificial lift lifecycle management, production workflow, and operations support.

The strategic implementation of the platform leads to a multitude of benefits, including:

• Reduced downtime
• Improved production
• Protection of well, downhole equipment, and surface assets
• Improved runlife and uptime
• Improved monitoring of wells, fields, and reservoirs
• Increased agility and responsiveness

More important, companies can access critical data information anytime and anywhere and regain control of processes and equipment performance.

Final thoughts: Navigating through the uncertainty

Uncertainties are at their peak for the Oil & Gas companies. What is certain, however, is the increasing role of technologies in helping these companies navigate through the challenges and build more flexibility and transparency into their operations.

Kellton’s Optima promises an era of new possibilities for the O&G industry as it’s been uniquely designed to connect disparate data systems and empower the leadership with near real-time data analytics to drive change across the enterprise. To see how Optima can have a transformative impact on your business, please refer to our brochure or see us here.