UK-based Lloyds Register reports the results of its 2015 Oil and gas technology radar survey. Apparently, the oil and gas industry is ‘no stranger to data collection tools’. The report is hard on some of its own respondent. Some 41% stated that data will be only ‘somewhat’ or of ‘limited’ importance to their innovation efforts. Go to the bottom of the class! ‘These executives should think again.’ Companies surveyed that were ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ at analyzing data ‘tend to be better at conceptualizing, developing and deploying new technologies.’ ‘Excellent’ data performers are ‘substantially more successful than the others.’
LR cites BP in this category, quoting at length from group head of technology David Eyton who castigates disparate data formats. Companies which specialize in data analytics are ‘format-agnostic.’ At BP, ‘Once we make our data accessible to our data analysts, they will use what we’ve got and see what they can do with it.’
In a callout in the report titled ‘The joy of data at BP’ Eyton opines that the digital oilfield is only now becoming a reality thanks to advanced data analytics and collection. LR concludes that ‘a sustained period of low oil prices can help to erode the conservative attitudes toward innovation that have long been evident in the upstream oil and gas industry.’ More, but not very much more, from LR.