Digitalization Is Key to Future-Proofing the Oil & Gas Industry

Alaa Elshimy

Alaa Elshimy, Managing Director and Senior Vice President of Enterprise BG, Huawei Middle East.

Lv Gongxun

Lv Gongxun, Senior Consultant, Oil & Gas Sector of Enterprise BG, Huawei; Former Vice President, PetroChina, CNPC

Global dual carbon goals are bringing about change, not only in energy but also in the economic structure of energy-producing nations. They are driving changes in production technologies and lifestyles. And they are also having a profound impact on the oil and gas industry and are bound to trigger structural reforms in both supply and demand, propelling the industry's transformation and development.

According to BP's Energy Outlook 2020, global demand for primary energy will only continue to grow, and oil and gas will remain the primary energy source until 2035. Although the share of oil and gas consumption in all energy sources will decrease after that point, the total volume consumed will remain relatively stable. We are confident about the future of the oil and gas industry.

At the same time, we should be aware that oil and gas companies still face significant challenges. First, in the context of the dual carbon goals, energy companies need to produce more energy at lower costs, while reducing carbon emissions. Second, oil and gas exploration targets are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve with proven resources often falling short. Third, newly discovered oil and gas reserves are difficult to produce, which requires advanced exploitation technology. Fourth, in the medium and long term, the global oil and gas supply is already relatively sufficient to meet demand, which means that low and medium oil prices will remain.

Digital transformation is inevitable if the industry is to address these challenges efficiently and sustainably. Realizing such change brings significant opportunities to oil and gas companies. Digital transformation can drive the reconstruction of business and management models as well as facilitate the innovation of new models entirely. Ultimately, digitalization helps oil and gas companies evolve and increase their value.

The oil and gas industry needs to further integrate digital technologies and fully realize its digital transformation goals to boost reserves and production, improve quality and efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions.

The industry has several requirements to make this transition. Transformation necessitates a full-stack cloud platform, which can help energy companies migrate key business processes to the cloud and gain intelligence. Effective data governance is also needed. Data generated by the industry is high in volume and complexity. Therefore, a unified data lake is indispensable for data sharing and smart big data analytics.

Furthermore, digital transformation requires a device-edge-cloud intelligent production system, where production data is collected from devices, and intelligent management and control of production is implemented on the cloud. Finally, strong service assurance is essential to achieving digital transformation. It is paramount to have a highly skilled service team that understands both the industry and digitalization to realize these objectives.

The digital and intelligent development of the global oil and gas industry is still in its infancy. The key fields being explored in the industry include smart exploration, smart oil and gas fields, smart pipe networks, smart refining and chemicals, and smart sales.

Huawei will host its annual Global Oil & Gas Summit, just before taking part in the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2021. Exploring the theme "Drive Data to Barrel, Embrace Intelligence to Grow," leading experts will share the best practices for global leadership in digital transformation. Huawei will demonstrate how it plans to support oil and gas companies' digital transformation strategies and integrate digital technologies into core oil and gas business processes. Specifically, Huawei will share the process of migrating oil and gas to the cloud, the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Exploration and Production (E&P), increasing reserves and production with computing power, digital and intelligent oil and gas fields, and more.

Oil and gas companies and Huawei share a common vision: to bring digital to the energy sector and build intelligent energy with all things connected.

To learn more about Huawei's solutions for the oil and gas industry, join us at the Huawei Global Oil & Gas Summit on November 14. Following on, visit Huawei's booth at ADIPEC 2021 over November 15–18, hosted at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). Huawei's booth — number 3220 in Hall 3 — will showcase some of the most significant cutting-edge emerging technologies in the oil and gas industry, sharing innovative new ideas and ways to use digital technologies to reimagine energy systems.

Learn more about Huawei's oil and gas solutions at the Huawei Global Oil & Gas Summit 2021 and ADIPEC.

This article was originally published in Oil Review Middle East magazine.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, products, and technologies of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. If you need to learn more about the products and technologies of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., please visit our website at e.huawei.com or contact us.