Though there is agreement in the industry that technology and business processes that provide real-time, continuous, and remote monitoring are transforming how companies operate, adoption of these technologies is far from uniform.

In September, participants at a session titled, “The Challenge of Deploying the Digital Oilfield to Different Cultures,” at the SPE ATCE meeting in Florence discussed some of the hurdles that delay adoption.

The vision of the digital oil field is one where operators, partners, and service companies take advantage of improved data and knowledge management, enhanced analytical tools, real-time systems, and more efficient business processes. This vision is appealing. The problem is that reality tends to get in the way.

Part of the problem, according to Total’s Philippe Malzac, is that there are different definitions of the digital oil field because the focus is broad, covering integrated operations, collaboration, production optimization, and surveillance and monitoring.

IT is looking at “deploying systems,” Malzac said, with a focus on reference architecture. R&D is concerned with differentiation, and people in operations only want to know how the digital oil field is going to add value or reserves. Meanwhile, he said, employees just want to know, “Is this going to make my life easier?”

Regardless of the focus or definition, Malzac said, “Reservoirs are becoming increasingly complex,” so the industry is being pushed inexorably into the digital arena.

Though Malzac’s point is well made, there is still a need to find a means of moving the digital oil field forward, and that continues to be a stumbling block.

Pieter Kapteijn, director of technology and innovation at Maersk Oil, believes the broad vision could be the problem. “Maybe we should stop trying to communicate the big vision,” he suggested. “We’ve tried this, and I don’t think it has worked. It is too complex and too long-term for leadership to take on.” Instead, Kapteijn said, a “bottom up approach” might be a better solution. “Let’s prepare ourselves to be intelligent tomorrow,” he said, noting that with advances rapidly taking place in the digital oil field realm, the industry will certainly continue to move toward more and more intelligent fields. “The issue of whether this is valuable has been settled,” he said. “We now have robust evidence that this is valuable.”

Kapteijn admits there is a long way to go, but he sees evidence of progress. “What struck me is how far we have come in 10 years.” Even eight years ago, many of the components needed to take on intelligence were not available, he said “They are here today, and they are cheaper than ever.”

David Newman, director, Global Oil and Gas Industry for Emerson Process Management agrees. “The technology is out there. It’s available,” he said, noting several technologies he believes are driving change in the digital world, including:
• Sensor technologies;
• WiFi technologies;
• Open standards;
• Modeling technologies;
• Predictive analytics;
• VC and Collaborative technologies;
• Availability of high bandwidth communications; and
• Web 2.0 and social networking.

Companies like Saudi Aramco, spurred by the value the digital oil field generates, are leading the pack in implementation. According to Muhammad M. Saggaf, chief petroleum engineer, Saudi Aramco,
“The epitome of the intelligent field is full automation.”

Farfetched as Saggaf's goal might seem today, it might not be too long before it is within reach.

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