Two years into the oil price collapse, and closer to a decade into the natural gas slide, few prognosticators are forecasting a return to the lofty price highs of the mid 2000s for either commodity anytime soon. In the absence of higher prices, oil and gas companies have little choice but to lower costs to remain profitable. And one increasingly recognized ways to do that is to adopt digital oilfield technologies.

According to a JWN Energy survey, conducted in partnership with Siemens, Storm Telematics and GDM Pipelines, attitudes toward digital oilfield technologies have grown more favourable over the past year, with more of those in the oil and gas industry perceiving the technology as both beneficial and ready for implementation.

Overall, among executives to front line workers, in exploration and production and in service and supply companies, awareness and knowledge about the various digital oilfield technologies has improved. The survey of 355 respondents also found that feelings about the overall benefits of the digital oilfield remained high.

To download your complimentary copy of the 2016 Digital Oilfield Outlook Report please click here.

With an emphasis on fleet management and field productivity solutions, the report provides recommendations that could accelerate technology adoption and enhance the competitiveness of the oil and gas industry. 

Digitizing the oilfield can mean many different things, from automation and remote inspection to biometric monitoring and predictive maintenance. They generally entail the digitization of activities and processes or the application of what has become known as Internet of Things — connected or “smart” sensors relaying information to a central database where advanced analytics can be applied to produce actionable intelligence that results in better decisions and cost savings.

Some technologies are closer to commercialization than others. Fleet management and field productivity, the main focus of the latest Digital Oilfield Outlook Report, were considered the most mature digital oilfield technologies among 10 use cases surveyed in the inaugural Digital Oilfield Outlook Report published in 2015 (available here: http://www2.jwnenergy.com/DOF1).

In this year’s survey, perceptions about the maturity of the technology and its market readiness for both fleet management and field productivity technologies rose significantly year-over-year. Fleet management, in particular, is seen as highly proven in the market by 38 per cent of respondents and ready for deployment by another 32 per cent, compared to just seven per cent responding it will be ready in 18 months, and four per cent suggesting it will be ready in more than 18 months. Nineteen per cent said it is ready for testing today.

Taken together with its high rating in perceived organizational readiness to adopt the technology, the survey results indicate that industry representatives believe fleet management is past its initial pilot stage and abundantly ready for larger scale deployment, the report concluded.

While field productivity was viewed overall as slightly less ready for deployment, it showed an equal level of improvement year over year, with a big improvement in the number of respondents who felt it is already highly proven in the market, at 31 per cent. A further 23 per cent rated it ready for deployment, while 20 per cent said it is ready for testing. Fifteen per cent judged it to be ready for deployment within 18 months, while just 11 per cent perceive it as longer than 18 months from technological maturity, a steep decline from 38 per cent who were as pessimistic about its readiness in 2015.

According to the Digital Oilfield Outlook Report, this improvement in perception among industry professionals is a strong indication that the field productivity use case has moved rapidly up the technology maturity scale and points to the likelihood of more widespread adoption.

Many more survey breakdowns are detailed in the report, as well as a selection of field productivity and fleet management case studies.