The oil and gas sector is one of the few industries that operates with fairly consistent success. The reason for this is that oil and gas are almost universally in demand around the world. However, this major positive for the industry is countered by pressures from governmental and environmental groups that push for efficient and sustainable operations. This not only limits the fiscal benefits associated with oil and gas mining, it also forces companies to seek peak operational efficiency to protect against regulatory problems.
While these challenges are significant, they could soon be dwarfed by dwindling natural resources.
The natural resources problem in oil and gas
From a broad perspective, there is still plenty of oil and gas available. However, many established reservoirs are running out of natural material. This is leading many oil and gas companies to more intensely search for new raw material deposits, possibly even going to areas of economic or political instability to access resources. This operational climate forces oil and gas organizations to focus on exploration and reservoir evaluation, a process that is data and technology intensive.
Because successful evaluation of oil and gas reservoirs is central to success in the industry, companies have to not only assess whether resources are present, but how much revenue they will be able to gain from projects in an area. This involves performing geophysical analysis of a reservoir to make an initial assessment, and then regularly evaluating the reservoir through the duration of the project. By doing this, organizations can understand how much oil and gas is available, figure out the best tools to use for the project and allocate the correct personnel and drilling resources to the site.
Dealing with geostatistical issues
Geophysical analysis hinges on geostatistical processes, which involves taking data from a variety of environmental sensors and end-user devices to calculate possible yields from a reserve. The amount of data gathered over the course of a project can be so substantial that it requires high-density data center environments to store everything effectively. Getting that data to the right applications and users to ensure process efficiency is an incredible challenge. BPM software for the utilities industry canprovide the necessary integration and automation to enable efficient functionality in the sector.
Malcolm Ross
Vice President of Product Marketing
