Smart Solutions in the Oil and Gas Industry: A Review

Abstract

A great importance had been given to sustainable development in the past decades, especially within the oil and gas industry, companies around the world are expanding their strategies in order to follow the current trend and information and Communication Technology are considered as a key factor for achieving sustainable development. That along with the constant technological development the oil and gas sector is experiencing had forced the industry to adapt smart solutions in order to meet the market's changing demand and improve the efficiency of its operations. With the goal of studying examples of smart solutions within the oil and gas industry from a general perspective, a literature review was conducted and the main characteristics and attributes of each solution had been exploited. Smart solutions gained a great appreciation in the industry, but their application is still modest, and the industry did not benefit from it in a meaningful way and has little impact on companies' business model.

Evaluation of challenges for sustainable transformation of Qatar oil and gas industry: A graph theoretic and matrix approach

“…In this study, interviewees noted that a lack of smart technologies within the Qatar oil and gas sector is an inhibitor limiting organisations' implementation of sustainability strategies. Smart technology is becoming more present within the oil and gas industry, mainly since it improves operations efficiency within the production line (Sarrakh et al, 2019). However, the Qatar oil and gas sector is still heavily relying on conventional methods for communication, assessment and management of data, which leads to a loss of valuable information, an increase in operational costs and a high risk and uncertainty related to employees' safety.…”

“…Much like other industries, the oil and gas sector had seen an increase in information input volumes since the 1990s, massive volumes of data and information available through governmental reports, NGOs and competitors; but, and unlike other industries, companies within the oil and gas sector do not benefit properly from this information and are usually thrown away (Sarrakh et al, 2019). The Qatar oil and gas industry is no exception, the sector is lacking in terms of effective processes to manage the generated data and information.…”

A new blockchain system design to improve the supply chain of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies – a case study in the oil and gas sector

“…Inefficiencies in the oil and gas industry’s supply chain are relatively high (Lu et al , 2019) and lead to financial losses up to 20% of operational budgets (Gausdal et al , 2018). As the traditional linear supply chain cannot manage the information and avoid inefficiencies, a new innovative information system architecture is needed (Joshi et al , 2017; Sharma et al , 2016; Farahmand and Farahmand, 2019; Sarrakh et al , 2019).…”

“…Such a system enhances collaboration, improves the efficiency of the supply chain (Kache and Seuring, 2017) and eliminates information loss (Dietz et al , 2019). Moreover, it needs to be smart in order to decrease human interaction, thus preventing human errors (Kharlamov and Parry, 2018; Sarrakh et al , 2019). Furthermore, a new system should be secured against data leakage (Dudley et al , 2017).…”