The oil and gas industry is increasingly recognizing the need to overcome data quality issues and manage ownership, control, sharing and the use of data. As a trusted third party, DNV GL is now launching an industry data platform - Veracity - to facilitate frictionless connections between different industry players, domain experts and data scientists.
New DNV GL research1 among industry leaders in the oil and gas sector shows that nearly four out of ten (39 %) respondents say their organization has an increased focus on digitalization and, despite ongoing cost pressures, 39% believe spending on digitalization will increase in 2017. The fact that 49% of the respondents believe digitalization is necessary to boost profitability shows that the industry should step up its digitalization efforts.
DNV GL has for years worked with oil and gas companies on big data projects focusing on reduced downtime, improved safety, predictive maintenance, performance forecasting, energy efficiency and real-time risk management. A key learning from such big data projects is that data quality is a major barrier to overcome.
“A distinctive element of our new industry data platform is therefore that it combines domain expertise and data science to put quality assured data – the veracity of data - at the centre and facilitate open, industry-wide collaboration and innovation. The aim is to not only build trust, but also boost knowledge and encourage collaboration. The industry needs to be successful at this to leverage the benefits of digitalization,” says Elisabeth Tørstad, CEO, DNV GL – Oil & Gas.
Remi Eriksen, President and CEO of DNV GL, explains: “The potential for using data more smartly in our industries is enormous. Companies have always turned to us for independent, expert assessments and best practices – to build trust in the safety, efficiency and sustainability of their physical assets and operations. Now, we are exercising this same role in the digital domain with our Veracity industry data platform, designed to help companies leverage the ever-increasing amount of data from multiple sources. We are not looking to own data, but rather to unlock, qualify, combine and prepare data for analytics and benchmarking.”
Other main findings from the Industry Outlook research show significant regional differences in the uptake of digitalization. While globally 39 % of senior oil and gas professionals report an increased focus on digitalization since the downturn, only 28% in Latin America and 32% in North America report an increased effort. On the other hand, Asia Pacific and Europe have been the most focussed on digitalization with 40% and 42%. However, most regions show the same interest in implementing/investing significantly in digitalization, with a variance of just 2% - from Latin America at 20% to Europe at 22%.
Read more about digitalization in the oil and gas industry here.
1. Short-term agility, long-term resilience: the outlook for the oil and gas industry in 2017 is an industry benchmark study from DNV GL, the leading technical advisor to the industry. Now in its seventh year, the study builds on the findings of six prior annual outlook reports, first launched in early 2011. During October and November 2016, we surveyed 723 senior professionals and executives across the global oil and gas industry and conducted 14 in-depth interviews with a range of experts, business leaders and analysts. Two–thirds (66%) are employed by suppliers and service companies across the industry, while 26% of respondents work for oil and gas operators. The remaining respondents come from regulators and trade associations. The companies surveyed vary in size: 41% had annual revenue of USD500m or less, while 18% had annual revenue more than USD5bn. Respondents were drawn from right across the oil and gas value chain, including publicly-listed companies and privately-held firms. They also represent a range of functions within the industry, from board-level executives to senior engineers.
