Oilfield digitalisation: ‘Business as unusual’

Digital energy leaders from around the world have converged in Utrecht, the Netherlands to review the progress of oilfield digitalisation to date and consider how future aspirations can be realised.

The first day of the 2014 SPE Intelligent Energy conference and exhibition kicked off with an opening scene-setter session where Gerald Schotman, Chief Technology Officer and Executive VP of Innovation and R&D at Shell introduced the event saying we’re not dealing with “business as usual” – it’s more like “business as unusual”. Energy demand could increase by as much as 80% by 2050 – and technology developments need to keep up with future energy demand.

Delegates also heard Brian Muirhead, chief engineer of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) share lessons learned from overcoming the vast challenges of landing space craft on Mars and pushing the boundaries of space exploration in a zero fault tolerant environment.

Co-chair Steve Roberts, Vice President of the Field of the Future® Technology Flagship at BP said: “The oil and gas industry has been pursing intelligent energy approaches for over a decade. Between us all, we have delivered significant incremental value through these innovative approaches and the SPE Intelligent Energy conference is a great opportunity to share these achievements. But, we are still only seeing the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot more value to be had. Other industries, such as aerospace, banking, automotive, manufacturing, military and retail have taken these concepts further. We heard in the opening scene setter how the NASA Mars missions have significantly reduced their cost while improving mission successes through creative approaches and the use of remote information and autonomy. As an industry, we are becoming even more data rich with new sensors and ways of inferring measurements being developed and applied. However, there is even more information to be gained using the data we already have.”

Fellow co-chair Eric Larson, CIO of Schlumberger said: “Since the first conference in 2006, there have been many advances in digital energy that have lowered field development costs and non-productive time while improving the health, safety and environmental performance. Looking ahead, there is still much to be realized in areas such as advanced production analytics, remote operations and integration across the various technologies. It is very exciting to see both the successes and the new ideas that are on display at the Intelligent Energy Conference.”

Egbert Imomoh, 2013 President of SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) said: “The enthusiasm shown by delegates in the sessions really highlights the need for innovative digital age technologies in our ever developing industry. The importance of this critical area was clearly recognised by all attendees and SPE is extremely excited by the continued interest in this topic.”

The three day conference and exhibition is themed ‘Aspirations and Accomplishments’. It is examining the efficiencies and performance improvements that have resulted from digital-age technologies while exploring how digital enablement can reduce exposure to risk while enhancing today’s processes and practices. Over three days, 80 technical papers are covering topics including technology, integrated operations, leadership, cyber-security and big data.

More than 40 exhibitors are showcasing their expertise including Baker Hughes, BP, Epsis, Honeywell, IBM, Petroleum Experts, Saudi Aramco, Stepchange Global and Weatherford.

The exhibition, organised by Reed Exhibitions, is showcasing new and developing technologies and expertise by leading operators, service companies and technology providers.

The event is being held at the Jaarbeurs Convention Center in central Utrecht. Full programme and registration details can be found at www.intelligentenergyevent.com