Digitization is transforming the mid-sized oil and gas sector in the Asia-Pacific region
Today, the oil and gas sector is being rethought with
fundamental shifts in demand and new technologies. According to the
International Energy Agency (IEA) 1, the growth in demand for electricity in
Southeast Asia has been one of the fastest in the world. Since 2000, energy
demand in Southeast Asia has increased by 80%, and from now until 2040, demand
is expected to grow by another 60%.
To meet this demand, operators have focused on improving
operational efficiency through data collection and analysis. From pipeline
monitoring to equipment health measurement, the oil and gas industry has turned
to digitization for better visibility, efficient asset management and better
predictive maintenance to optimize costs.
Most of the time, many midsize oil and gas companies look to
use operational data to reduce risk and improve the safety of people and the
environment, increasing efficiency.
This can include getting near real-time data from an oil
pipeline, pumping station or shipping terminal to better understand what is
happening in the field. It can be done remotely, thousand of miles away.
Traditionally, mid-tier applications in the oil and gas
business have been associated, for example, with industrial SCADA systems for
metering control and leak detection.
However, in recent years, new technologies have become more
prevalent in digitization efforts. According to Accenture, up to 10 different
technologies such as analytics, robotics, industrial Internet of things (IIoT)
and cloud computing have the potential to disrupt the oil and gas industry. For
example, transmission and pump analysis provides insight into system
performance and can provide advice on timely maintenance.
Asset performance management, website security with video
analytics and performance analytics are new areas being explored today as
companies look to digitally improve their operations and processes.
Effective data management requires a reliable,
leading-edge computing platform
To implement these new technologies, companies are turning
to Edge Computing, a hardware-like distributed computing model to collect,
analyze and deliver data securely and reliably. After all, the data is as good
as it is available. By 2022, 75 percent of data will be created and processed
outside the data center or cloud, according to research firm Gartner.
Of course, not all systems are the same. Many high-end
computing systems aren't robust enough to handle a wide range of applications
that can change over time. Installing such systems with a limited set of
functions carries the risk of moving to systems that quickly become out of date
and unsuitable for new tasks.
A bad foundation for a digitization project is hard to get
rid of. Unsurprisingly, around 70% of digitization projects failed to meet
their stated goals in 2019.
For many mid-level players in the oil and gas industry, the
challenge of cutting-edge computing is acquiring the hardware needed to achieve
digitization and the ability to easily manage the applications that run them.
Simple, independent and secure
In other words, it must be simple, independent and secure.
Simple in the sense that it is easy to maintain and
future-proof in terms of handling software updates and patches. This is
important when managing multiple sites remotely, such as transport and terminal
operations.
Installation must be self-contained, in the sense that the
peripheral architecture must be robust and robust enough to operate outdoors.
Does it offer “zero touch” technology to track and manage remote assets when no
onsite staff is available?
Finally, it also needs to be protected, especially in an era
where cyber threats are prevalent in any business sector. When machines and
equipment are connected in the field, it's even more important to protect the
data they deliver. Real-time decisions depend on the availability of accurate
data.