Guest Editorial: Digital Transformation of the Oil and Gas Industry in an Altered Market
Authors: Borne Robert 
Published: May 2021

The blending of digital and physical worlds has been happening all around us at a rapid pace for many years. In the early days of digital transformation efforts, it would show up incrementally and sporadically, with varying levels of success. I remember my first email address, my first mobile phone, my first iPod, and my MySpace account page. Those all seem so long ago now. As time moved on, digital and physical connections seemed more real, and progress became clearer with more tangible benefits. And it was all happening more and more quickly. Fast-forward to a current, pandemic-clouded existence. Can anyone imagine not being connected to the internet or digital ecosystem around us less than 24/7 these days?

Over the past year, we could barely keep up with how important our interactions between the digital and physical landscapes had become. As we have been forced to rethink in every way how we interact with people, places, and things, our connection to digital tools in our altered physical world has become a lifeline for individuals to connect with each other. These tools have also been critical for companies to connect to their customers and the greater market. We no longer speak or think about what it will be like to go back to “normal.” Our use of different digital tools to connect with people and data is now normal and will not be going away.

Historically, the oil and gas industry has been grounded in fundamentals of science, technology, and intelligent people working at the outer edge of what was thought possible to produce hydrocarbons. Even with this forward thinking and adventurous spirit permeating the entire industry, we have been very slow to pick up digitally transforming how we work. It has become apparent over the past few years the requirement to move in this direction, or risk obsolescence. Even though this digital space is not new in our personal lives, we still act as though it is new to us in our working lives. To think of that in a real-time scale, I purchased my first mobile phone 24 years ago, yet I sometimes still need to wait for a daily drilling report through email to understand what is happening on a location half a world away.

It is taking our phenomenal and advanced industry way too long to catch up, but it appears that most of our membership are now on board. From this point, the digital transformation of upstream oil and gas production will fundamentally change how our business is conducted and measured with a clear and targeted focus on optimizing each part of the customer journey. We will smartly and efficiently use data and technology to help create frequent, low-friction, and positive experiences throughout the connected customer relationship.

This industrywide digital transformation will be a long path that is difficult and takes time. The market may be altered, but the path to a successful digital transformation is fluid and the core principles of success have not changed.

It starts with digitizing. This is the foundation the rest of the digital transformation is built upon.