SEVEN LAKES FEATURED ON FORBES
Forbes claims Seven Lakes as the leading provider in the oil and gas industry that uses “disruptive technologies like big data, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and mobile technologies to help companies develop their edge that is critical in closing the inefficiency gap.”
In the article Shiva Rajagopalan, Seven Lakes CEO explains, “Too many of today’s systems require constant monitoring, often by a whole team of people watching individual processes. There is nothing intelligent about such labor-intensive approaches. Instead, the aim should be to produce the best of both human and machine intelligence by improving cooperation between the two. That is the real revolutionary shift offered by AI.”
Technologies that have already begun modernizing almost every other industry are primed and ready to push the oil and gas sector over the paper-pushing, human-labor-intensive data cliff. As the founder and CEO of a company that specializes in creating software to help oil and gas operators generate better data insights, I’ve witnessed this transition firsthand. Oil and gas firms just need to take the leap.
It All Revolves Around Data
The technologies changing the world today — under the umbrella of the Fourth Industrial Revolution — are all built on a foundation of data. With data comes the power to truly understand the inefficiencies that lie beneath the surface of the oil field, and big data is the rig needed to unearth this potential value of heavy investments made in automation such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). This powerful computing capacity feeds on continuous streams of trusted data to provide reliable, actionable intelligence.
However, success with big data analytics depends on quality information. The veracity of data is integral to business operations, as false information could cause an improper allocation of resources, leading to costly setbacks. Trust, therefore, is fundamental when collecting data. And to ensure trust, oil and gas companies must retain total ownership of their data.
Many service companies offer turnkey apps without the ability to monitor the underlying data. They promise better intelligence, but in reality, by giving up ownership of their analytics, companies only limit their digital potential. Meanwhile, the more sophisticated providers create designated and clear access to the data, so oil and gas firms are able to control and quickly locate their intelligence at any time, ensuring confidence, autonomy and flexibility in their operations.
Automation Feeds The Platform For AI
Big data analytics and SCADA investments turn on the capacity for masses of data from disparate sources, creating the opportunity for AI to bring a level of workflow efficiency the industry has not seen before. AI feeds off this influx of data to learn and develop in ways beyond the capabilities of humans or traditional computer systems. When used with oil field processes that are traditionally labor-intensive — such as run ticket recognition, task allocation or lease operator routing — companies now have the technology to allocate resources and prioritize high-value problems with a tighter communication loop in the field.
Too many of today’s systems require constant monitoring, often by a whole team of people watching individual processes. There is nothing intelligent about such labor-intensive approaches. Instead, the aim should be to produce the best of both human and machine intelligence by improving cooperation between the two. That is the real revolutionary shift offered by AI.
Field Data Is Best Delivered From The Cloud
The amounts of data, the speed of field automation innovation and the types of communication processes taking place when digitizing the oil field slow down with on-premise data services. With this evolution, oil and gas companies can jump on a formidable time machine to scale up functional innovation that is desperately needed in the field. The cloud also opens up new avenues for all kinds of oil field closed-loop communications, task allocation, intelligent resourcing and overall production planning.
The cloud can offer modern computing and data storage services that on-premise providers cannot, all without the need for significant capital expenditure, while also providing assurances over the ownership of data and its security.
From The Cloud To The Palm Of Your Hand
To truly deliver the power of the cloud and big data to those in the field whenever they need it, mobile technology is necessary. By utilizing mobility hardware, workers of all types can access information to make the best decisions at every turn.
Lease operators in some areas, for example, often drive an hour or so between stops. However, by knowing the status of each well in real time, they can prioritize the locations where they are needed most, offering direct benefits for production. Furthermore, smart mobility apps can help them handle the complexities of managing both planned events, such as environmental inspections, and unplanned events, such as oil spills and emergency maintenance, meaning the field is always running as well as it can be for the number of operators available.
Winners And Losers
In this new era, the winners will be the oil and gas companies that embrace the age of data-driven technology and explore all the new tools at their disposal to bring about unprecedented levels of efficiency in their operations. In doing so, they will harness the ability to get more from their wells with reduced workforces and lowered costs, thereby increasing production without new wells or more recruitment. Those who do that well will be the champions of this new era in oil and gas, while those who don’t will be left behind.
