The world continues to rely heavily on oil and gas resources. As the demand for these resources remains high, it’s essential that oil and gas companies find efficient ways to extract and deliver them. If an oil and gas company remains stuck in its ways, it’s all too likely that its customers will start to look elsewhere for their resource needs.
To avoid this, oil and gas companies have found several reliable ways to optimize their production. Below are a few key ways they currently do this along with how these strategies may continue to impact production into the future.
The Introduction of AI
One of the more ground-breaking innovations currently being used by oil and gas companies is artificial intelligence. With the implementation of artificial intelligence, or AI, oil, and gas companies can learn and evaluate all sorts of information that allows them to better optimize their production.
For example, AI can determine the best locations for an oil and gas company to operate in terms of the amount of materials available without damaging the local environment. AI can also assess risks, ensuring that oil and gas companies operate in areas that are safe, which reduces the potential downtime that a company might face. As time goes on, oil and gas plants will likely rely on AI more for things such as employee management and resource management.
Advanced Control Systems
Another popular tool for oil and gas plants is advanced turbomachinery control systems. Turbomachinery control systems are control systems for turbines and compressors and are primarily used within oil and gas process facilities. These systems have been around for decades, however, newer systems are available that provide better optimization for their plants. With these advanced controls available to them, engineers can improve efficiency across the upstream, downstream, and midstream, all while making operations safer for all involved.
Better Employee Training
Employee training is an essential ingredient for any company when it comes to improving performance and the oil and gas industry is no exception. Improved employee training does a few things. First, it ensures that all employees know the best ways to perform their jobs, which helps to increase production and decrease downtime. In addition, with better training, employees can prevent accidents, which are a significant cause of downtime for oil and gas companies. Finally, trained employees are also less likely to get hurt on the job. This removes legal liability from the company, protects employees, and ensures that its team remains efficient.
Preparation for Unplanned Failures
According to IBM, “Worldwide unplanned outages caused by damage or failure can result in production lags of thousands of barrels of oil per day”. They go on to say that “An average offshore oil and gas company experiences about 27 days of unplanned downtime a year, which can lead to annual losses from USD 38 million to upwards of USD 88 million.”
Unplanned failures are when production halts for unforeseen reasons. Maybe there was an accident in the plant or a vital piece of machinery broke down. Whatever the reason, it’s practically impossible for an oil and gas company to completely prevent these unplanned failures. The companies that are the most optimized are the ones who have plans in place for when these events occur and who can quickly get their plant running again. To best optimize an oil and gas company, leaders should spend time creating emergency plans for practically any possible incident, then train employees on how to quickly implement that plan should the event arise.
Spending Resources on Innovation
Finally, oil and gas plants are investing in innovation. New technologies emerge all the time that can help oil and gas companies operate more efficiently. However, companies won’t know about these innovations if they don’t invest resources in discovering them or if they don’t invest in building them themselves.
For example, some oil and gas companies are making use of wearable technologies, something that may not have been immediately obvious without some research. By spending a significant portion of their budget on research and development, oil and gas companies continue to learn the best ways to optimize efficiency without sacrificing employee or environmental safety.
Oil and Gas Optimization is an Essential Worldwide Concern
The world will continue to need oil and gas for the foreseeable future. Since it isn’t going away any time soon, it’s essential that oil and gas companies continue to find ways to optimize their production and distribution. Doing so will help to ensure that countries around the world get their necessary resources in a timely manner.
