Bringing the Digital Oil Field to Production Operations

Abstract

Guest editorial Things move fast in the world of digital technology. And the oil industry has often been in the advance guard. Progress in the seismic area, accelerated by high-performance computing, has been nothing short of amazing, and the industry has truly pushed the envelope in deepwater exploration thanks to adoption of vanguard technologies. In addition, the industry has advanced significant initiatives to digitize field operations, from installing field wireless networks and sensors to deploying wellbore fiber optics. However, upon reflection, most progress has come in exploration or field development. In "operations," the Digital Oil Field of the Future (DOFF) has moved ahead in small, measured steps. Is it possible to accelerate adoption of digital innovation in the traditional, cautious world of production operations? The external world has experienced an explosion in the development and adoption of new digital technology. In the past decade, the Internet has morphed from minor brochureware to a major business channel and the smartphone has become a game-changing device right out of the gate. The next generation of computing—cloud computing—is taking shape in a big way, bringing game-changing technologies and business models. And so—could our progress in the oil field be faster? The complexities and barriers are significant. Four in particular impact the pace of change:Wide Diversity of Industry, Assets, and Participants. Production-operations deals in new fields and brownfields, international oil companies (IOCs), national oil companies, and independents, all have different value propositions. There can be no "one size fits all" DOFF solution. This diversity and a lack of focus in industry efforts supporting DOFF have led to small-scale, independent DOFF efforts across—and even within—companies. The consequent slow progress and disconnected processes have made it difficult to mount efforts that reach economies of scale.Lack of Industry Standards. Suppliers have a vested interest in protecting their proprietary solutions rather than developing industry standards; likewise, IOCs are inclined to see their DOFF initiatives as potentially providing competitive advantage, reducing any willingness to share. However standards and integration of technologies will be essential to reach the economies of scale necessary to drive widespread adoption.