[ARTICLE] Innovation in Upstream Oil and Gas: How to Make it Work
Authors: Peter Howard Wertheim and Dayse Abrantes hwpeter15@gmail.com
Technology advancement in recent years such as cloud computing, analytic and artificial intelligence have accelerated the pace of digitalization in oil and gas production. A key enabler for industry 4.0 (fourth industrial revolution) is “digital twin,” that is, exchange of digital data, access to virtual information of installations or industrial products.
This enables decentralization through the acquisition and exchange of data plus access to a great variety of information, making it easy to interchange operations at an unprecedented level.
Relevant knowledge include evidences from bibliometric analyses in oil fields equipped with advanced technology.
This requires 3D/4D visualization of geological data; graphical computing; visual computing; visual interpretation; memory capacity for a greater volume of data; stereo display; visual modeling; integrated communication and long range training; high production volume (HPV); high performance computing (HPC); horizontal drilling; extended reach drilling (ERD) and sidetrack drilling.
In ultra-deep water explorations, the sector researches new water treatment technologies. GE announced that the new membrane created for Sea Water Sulfate Removal (SWSR) was approved by Petrobras.
Installing a membrane injection plant allows time reduction; identification and solution for bottlenecks and improve field workforce efficiency among other advantages.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) enables the implementation of at least eleven applications; six types of visualization capacities; six types of advanced analytics and four groups of equipment, including various types of connectivity.
Tomographic Imaging & Porous Media Laboratory is one of the largest tomographic facilities in North America focused on Crack-Tip (CT) that is, scanning core and laboratory experiments for the oil and gas industry.
Some analysts believe that the potential economic impact enabled by the use of digital technologies will total more than $370 billion by 2025.
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