The onset of the new decade saw a global pandemic join forces with an oil price war to deliver one of the most turbulent years in oil and gas history. Though out of this pressure, technology has emerged as a bright spot for the industry as many companies increasingly turned to digital solutions, in particular, to help cut costs and streamline operations.

During a turbulent 2020 came advancements to existing technology in oil and gas, a thriving startup ecosystem and a significant ramp-up in investments to support innovation in the tech space.

Here are a few of the technologies that not only showed resiliency, but experienced exponential growth while the oil and gas industry endured one of its toughest years.

ColdBore – SmartPAD 

Cold Bore Technology Inc., a leader in fracking completion optimization technology backed by Rice Investment Group, opened the year with one of the largest oil producers in North Dakota’s Bakken Formation integrating its SmartPAD technology. With the completions system, producers can capture ultrahigh-resolution fracking operations data that can be analyzed and acted on in real-time.

In 2020, numerous shale players adopted the optimization technology including Permian Basin-focused oil and gas producers Parsley Energy Inc. and Hibernia Resources III LLC. Parsley reported a 22% increase in inefficiency in second-quarter 2020 and noted that the system’s remote monitoring feature enabled it to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus at its frac sites.

Similarly, Hibernia nearly halved its non-pumping time and saved over $300,000 in fixed costs last year after deploying SmartPAD across 100% of its operations.

Cold Bore’s latest software product, Frac Action, enables high resolution, real-time stage frac data to be overlaid on multiple previous stages to visualize optimized performance or to be tracked against an ideal preset stage. The ability to overlay frac data will enhance an oil and gas operator’s ability to make critical decisions in real-time, the company said.  

Honeywell – Safety Suite

Workers in the oil and gas industry face an immense number of risks daily while on the job, from explosions to hazardous gases.

In June 2020, Honeywell introduced its Safety Suite platform to help industrial facility operators and safety managers monitor workers’ exposure to gas, weather and certain physiological conditions in real time. The platform integrates seamlessly into plant operations, helping operators prevent incidents and quickly respond to emergencies.

The software was designed to eliminate manual processes, assists with regulatory compliance, maximizes accuracy and efficiency and minimizes safety costs. Safety managers can use the platform to monitor workers on the job site and view gas readings, alarms, compliance statuses and more on a map-based display viewable from the command center or any internet-connected device.

By aiding a space always in need of improvement, the long-term integration of the solution will be essential to moving the industry’s safety culture forward.

ABB – Adaptive Execution 

With the industry in survival mode, many oil and gas companies learned the importance of having technology at the core of their business strategy. Companies were forced to look at fresh approaches to cut costs and survive the challenges of falling oil prices.   

In October 2020, ABB launched its Adaptive Execution platform aimed at helping organizations adapt to challenging market conditions. The portal integrates agile processes, shared learnings and proven methodologies into a single, streamlined project execution experience for all stakeholders involved in major capital investment projects.

During a time of industry-wide financial stress, the tool enables greater visibility across all layers of a project, unlocking significant project value improvements across the energy sector. ABB said the platform eliminates the need for onsite engineering, cutting the number of hours spent on project installation, commissioning and testing by up to 85%.

Adaptive Execution is expected to reduce automation related capex by up to 40%, compress delivery schedules by up to 30% and start-up hours by up to 40%, the company said.

Data Gumbo – GumboNet 

Many tech startups were already well positioned entering the year given the digital revolution. Data Gumbo maintained that momentum by forging numerous partnerships for GumboNet, its industrial blockchain network designed to streamline smart contracts for oil and gas companies.

Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Atlas RFID and HENDERSON entered deals to deploy GumboNet across their organizations to create certainty in transactions during the tumultuous year. By providing a single immutable record of truth, GumboNet synchronizes data across counterparties for transparency that frees up working capital, reduces contract leakage, enables real-time cash and financial management, and delivers provenance, the company said.

By third-quarter 2020, the Houston-based technology startup had secured $4 million in Series B funding from Equinor ASA, Saudi Aramco and new venture capital investor L37. The investment brought Data Gumbo’s total funding to $14.8 million, which is anticipated to grow in 2021.

In December, Data Gumbo closed the year reporting that it had more than doubled its size to meet the demand from the oil sector. With 20-plus strategic new hires and increased interest in GumboNet during the year, Data Gumbo intends to expand its international footprint with new offices in Latin America and the Middle East.

In 2021, the company said it will focus on wider industry adoption of GumboNet to move companies into digital automation for unparalleled trust and value.

While the full potential of these technologies have yet to be realized, they’ve provided a foundation that’ll be beneficial for new, emerging capabilities and applications going into 2021.

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