For nearly a decade now the upstream industry has been striving to realize an ideal future state in which oil and gas field evaluation, planning, drilling and producing operations may be conducted in "real time." Phenomenal advances in digital technologies, satellite communications, remotely controlled systems and collaboration centers promise to make this vision a reality one day soon. We've all seen descriptions and case studies of the so-called "Digital Oilfield of the Future" and heard about enormous associated gains in cycle time, efficiency and performance.
Notice, however, that even after talking about real-time operations and the oil field of the future for years, most industry decision-makers still project this ideal state somewhere out in the future. We seem to be waiting for some great technology breakthrough, while the real-time enterprise of the future can be realized today! For example, by collaboratively planning and remotely monitoring offshore wells from its pioneering Real-Time Operations Center in New Orleans, Shell E&P Americas has "added particular value" in several key areas (SPE 97059, October 2005). "Multidiscipline efforts that used to take weeks/months," they note, "have been reduced to hours/days."
Discrete real-time technologies, automation systems, integration platforms and visualization software already exist. The functionality we need is on the market now. I would argue that the only thing standing in the way of achieving our real-time vision is us - the users and decision-makers who need to make it happen - not the technology. It's inertia, resistance to change.
We're mired in old, familiar ways of working. The oil business has an ambiguous legacy of technology implementation. On the one hand, research has shown that it takes nearly 40 years to get from idea to full market penetration. On the other hand, the industry is certainly capable of rapid technology adoption. Witness the growth of intelligent wells and real-time drilling jobs over the past few years, at least in certain regions.
What's needed today is concerted change management aimed at getting people to use existing real-time solutions in everyday operations. That means changing entrenched patterns and processes through the judicious application of "external force." Let me mention a few such forces that could move the industry toward broader implementation of real-time solutions. Market conditions, for one thing, are providing a new impetus for change. In a 2004 roundtable discussion, industry executives cited intense market pressure to boost profitability, production and reserves as a reason to postpone funding and adoption of technology. However, relentless global demand growth and sustained higher commodity prices over the past year have yielded record profits. Every extra barrel or Mcf of production gained through more efficient real-time operations is worth more money than ever before.
Second, executives themselves can exert a strong "external force" on the users within their organizations. All it takes is establishing a strategic real-time vision at the highest levels of management. One way to ensure widespread buy-in is to engage end-users as early in the change process as possible. Conducting an "upstream technology review," a rigorous interview-based process using outside consultants (another external force for change) has proven remarkably effective in taking a technology vision from idea to reality (see, for example, "Beat Digital Technology Obstacles," E&P, December 2005).
Too many GG&E specialists today are not working and collaborating in real-time. Technology is not the issue. It's all about change management. Now is the time for real-time. The potential payoff is huge.

Peter Bernard is senior vice president of Halliburton Digital and Consulting Solutions.

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