Cloud Computing in the Digital Oilfield

Posted by Reyansh Arora on October 1st, 2019

Big Data and IoT have created more connected oilfields, leading to a considerable increase in data generation. Consequently, there has been a great demand for highly-scalable data storage solutions worldwide. Cloud computing has proven to be an absolute gamechanger in this scenario.

In a digital trends survey with over 300 respondents from more than 18 countries, 70 per cent plan to invest significantly more in digital technologies like big data, IoT, and cloud – and for good reason. Read on to understand what role cloud computing can play in the digital oilfield and how the hype surrounding it can be justified.

The Need for Cloud Computing:

Companies operating in the oil and gas sector are faced with five critical issues, which are:

• Data management
• Maintenance and operational challenges in older plants and refineries
• Unforeseen failures attributable to downtime and leading to losses
• Difficulty in integrating new infrastructure with old
• Inefficient management of the workforce

In a highly competitive and rapidly fluctuating market, finding a reliable solution to these issues is essential for ensuring steady profits.

While IoT has made it possible to collect data, Big Data and Analytics have made it possible to make sense out of it. Greater the amount of data collected, more accurate the analytics will be and better decisions can be made. Cloud computing allows oil field companies to collect and store virtually unlimited data and ultimately achieve better decision making.

This enables oil field companies to improve data management, realize predictive maintenance, reduce downtime, simplify infrastructure integration, and achieve efficiency in workforce management.  

Adopting Cloud Computing in Oilfields:

Oil field companies have to manage vast amounts of data accumulated from sources such as sensors, well logs, production meters, SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems, and seismic acquisition. Furthermore, the nature of the oil and gas industry is such that it has a globally dispersed workforce, and joint ventures between companies are not unusual.

Cloud computing provides managers and oilfield employees with a venue to interact efficiently and regularly, irrespective of how remote the oil well may be. It enables them to access company databases from any location, ultimately preventing any communication breakdown.

Besides, cloud computing also facilitates real-time, on-demand data access from multiple devices. This is particularly beneficial to oil field companies as they almost always have complex design challenges. Since the oil and gas industry is extremely competitive, it is crucial to realize that even minor improvements can have major financial impacts.

However, it is important to note that shifting to cloud technology can take time and require great efforts. Therefore, organizations must develop a sound ‘cloud strategy’ prior to investment. Using a mixture of public and private clouds is also recommended. While public clouds can provide additional processing power, a private cloud can ensure more security. In order to achieve a more cost-effective infrastructure, Linux-based cloud systems can also be adopted.

Cloud Versus On-Premise Hosting:

On-premise data storage requires the recruitment of dedicated IT teams who have the necessary skillset. But for oil field companies, investing in drilling and pumping equipment makes more sense as opposed to spending their capital on servers and new IT teams.

Cloud computing offers bespoke data storage services to companies who do not have the capital, the expertise, or the necessity for on-premise servers but wish to monetize data. It also supports mobility and Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives by providing instant insights. These advantages are found to be missing in on-premise hosting of data.

Furthermore, oil field companies utilizing on-premise storage need to continuously invest in software and hardware upgradation, and provide training to their staff after each breakthrough, if they wish to keep up with the technological advancements. This is not so in cloud computing, once again making it look like a better alternative.

Oil field companies have an ever-growing demand for infrastructure. With virtually unlimited storage space, ease of deployment, and small upfront capital costs, cloud computing proves to be the perfect solution for all data storage needs in digital oilfields. It also provides efficient data storage and retrieval methods. For a data-hungry industry like oil and gas, the benefits of cloud computing are hard to overlook. The companies that capitalize on these benefits are sure to stay ahead of the curve.