Page 385 - Intelligent Digital Oil And Gas Fields

324 Intelligent Digital Oil and Gas Fields

and that stored data in 2020 will be 40 zettabytes (40 billion terabytes). For
the O&G industry, however, Mahdavi (2017) says that the industry seems
uncertain about how to integrate IoT for optimal business impact. He goes
on to say that adoption of IoT-enabled analytics in the consumer space, for
example, where retailers have so much data and can analyze it so quickly
they can predict buyer behavior in real time, has created an expectation
by some in O&G that digitalization would also enable real-time proactive
decisions. He indicates that the DOF has progressed by enabling collabora-
tion across geographies and through real-time centers, but it has not fulfilled
the promise of transformative performance in terms of value delivered.
Mahdavi reinforces the report by McAvey (2017) that business transforma-
tion is possible by fully integrating the systems “from the sand face to their
back-end IT and financial systems.” BSquare (2017) says “in fact, IoT tech-
nology creates an entirely new asset: information about these crucial ele-
ments of their businesses,” and goes on to say “through the establishment
of comprehensive, data-driven predictive insights, O&G companies can
employ sophisticated rules and machine learning to constantly adapt and
tune expensive assets in real-time using trend analysis.”
In an interview, Anthony McDaniels of Rare Petro Technologies noted
that in 2012, a surveillance device that cost USD 10,000 and took 6 months
for design, decision, power, communications, and installation can, in 2017,
be installed for less than USD 300. The cost for a field data device has gone
from $5 per megabyte (MB) to USD 0.03 per MB. Even mature fields with
lower production can now justify using surveillance equipment and obtain
value with the analytics available. New technology for miniaturization of the
power source, wireless communication, and polymer protection enables use
of downhole sensors, which could not be considered in the past.
Chris Lenzsch of Dell-EMC spoke about the increase of software-
defined sensors (that is edge sensors), more IT integration with the data
by users, and increased automation. People will use data that are close to
the measurement sources. With edge sensors and data on the cloud, there
is an increasing focus on data security. The sensors themselves require
built-in security. In the future, DOF systems will be increasingly closed loop
with control over decisions and action. People interacting with systems sim-
ply to move and manipulate data, for example, between file systems, spread-
sheets, reports, data warehouse, etc., will disappear; Lenzsch states, “Today
the industry is 70% data manipulation and 30% decisions; in the future, the
percentages will be reversed at the least.” E&P data will move to the Cloud
so that data are “ubiquitous whenever, whatever you want for collaboration