Technology unleashes upstream industry: Computer breakthroughs promise to revolutionize the oil and gas industry

摘要

The upstream oil and gas industry has long advocated and depended upon advanced technologies as a major contributor to its success. Whether it be 3-D seismic processing made possible by fast and reliable high-performance computing and storage capabilities or the ubiquity of PCs, servers, handheld devices and mobile communication devices, data and information drives the industry. Forecasts show increasing demand for oil and gas, both as an energy source and as a feedstock for petrochemical-based products. This, combined with the certainty that oil and gas is a finite commodity, increases the reliance on the manipulation and management of data and information to improve reserves and production growth whilst resulting in cost reductions and improving the economic threshold of portfolio assets. This article outlines some of IBM's current thinking on future technologies, identifies key themes and speculates on their impact on the upstream Industry.