While leading corporations in the downstream oil & gas industry try to seek market and shareholder differentiation in sustained growth and efficiency, this is extremely difficult to accomplish. Current levels of growth are nowhere near historical levels. But even it if were, growth by itself isn’t enough – it must be combined with improved asset utilization. Digital Transformation is one of the core innovations being used by leading downstream oil & gas corporations to increase asset utilization through higher manufacturing efficiency, including the efficiencies of multi-plant sites and integrated value chains. For larger oil & gas corporations, a key challenge is accelerating the value; finding and using methods to transform operations faster than the competition. DHB4.0 is part of the full solution for your downstream process.
The downstream operations of oil and gas companies, both refining and petrochemicals, have always adopted technology to improve operations. These companies have developed innovative approaches that model and manage complex processes, and that interpret data to improve performance. The shift to digital holds even greater potential, particularly given the strategic push by many companies to expand the downstream component of the oil and gas value chain, especially petrochemicals. Many oil and gas company leadership teams understand that digitization is more than an opportunity. We have found that digitizing downstream operations leads to the following benefits for oil and gas companies:
- operating costs reduced by 12 percent to 20 percent
- throughput improved by 6 percent to 12 percent
- unplanned shutdowns reduced by 15 percent to 25 percent
- the efficiency of plants increased by 8 percent to 12 percent
- HSSE performance improved
- workforce productivity improved
Digital Transformation is one of the core innovations being used by leading downstream oil & gas corporations to increase asset utilization through higher manufacturing efficiency, including the efficiencies of multi-plant sites and integrated value chains. For larger oil & gas corporations, a key challenge is accelerating the value; finding and using methods to transform operations faster than the competition.
Recent Reports
Accenture recently published a report where they found that while 60% of refiners said they intend to spend more on digital this year, less than half (48%) say they are mature or semi-mature in digital technology deployment. Figure 1 shows where refiners see themselves in the context of the digitization journey. Even though some of these technologies have been around for decades, i.e., advanced process control, the industry maturity is remarkably low.
The potential is enormous—80% of the same respondents said that digital is adding more than $50M value to their business. Yes, Digital Transformation can take years, but the value is enormous
Value Drivers for Digital Acceleration
There are several key value drivers for accelerating digital transformation across the downstream oil & gas industries. Leading corporations are implementing digital transformation faster than others, and as a result, these leaders are disrupting their market segments. Fast and correct information about the downstream oil & gas – where it is, how it was made, its properties – becomes more valuable to win and grow business from their key customers. There isn’t enough data (yet) on the downstream oil & gas industry digital wave, but many analysts believe that lessons learned from other industries are relevant.
