four steps toward a digital oilfield future

HOW TOBUILD A DIGITAL

OILFIELD STRATEGYIN FOUR STEPS

GEreports

Oil companies today operate in a volatile environment. Low prices are driving down revenue, and operators

are working on the narrowest of margins. Greater productivity holds the key to survival, GE Chief

Economist Marco Annunziata argues in a recent paper. But how to get there?

Annunziata says the digital oilfield — combining sensor technology and cloud-based big-data analytics —

can meet the challenges. It delivers on the ability toreduce unplanned downtime, increase asset

optimization and improve overall operational efficiency.

Past efforts with digitization in the oil industry have not delivered on their full potential. One of the key

reasons has been a “siloed” approach to deployment rather than a comprehensive strategy.

THE CHALLENGE?

A clear strategy is key to realizing the value of the digital oilfield. We asked Ope Amosu, GE’s Senior

Commercial Development Leader for Upstream Oil and Gas (North America), about the basic steps required

to create one. Here’s what he said:

STEP 1Get Input FromOperational Staff

Senior leaders need to consider more than high-level issues, such as financial benefits, when developing digital strategy that will scale across an enterprise. Amosu says they must also understand what new

technology means from a user point of view.

You need a lot of input from theactual users of this technology toget a true understanding of how

a business is being operated…

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…I think their line of sightis the most valuable line

of sight when you are creatinga high-level strategy.

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STEP 2Identify CommonThemes

Operations can be highly diversified within an oil company. Developing a comprehensive strategy

should begin with identifying issues shared acrossthe enterprise, Amosu says.

It’s all about identifying common themes. That’s where you canreally get things to resonate…

You want to build a unified baseline.

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Once that baseline is in place, it becomes easier to adapt new technologies to the unique needs of

individual business units and operating environments.

STEP 3Build Cross-FunctionalRelationships

When deploying new technologies, it is vital that technology and operations leaders share priorities, Amosu says. Creating cross-functional teams can

foster a unified approach.

You need to have that cohesive relationship between technology and

operations. They all need to have a similar motive, something that they

are all trying to accomplish.

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STEP 4StandardizeTechnology

Standardization is becoming a strategic initiative in many areas, Amosu says. It helps drive

greater efficiencies and operational similaritiesacross an enterprise.

This is more of a solution-basedapproach versus a simple

technology-based approach to drive an [outcome]

you’re looking for.

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Technological standardization also helps develop a level of knowledge transfer and collaboration

between operators, service companies and technology providers to improve operations.

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