Blogs

COVID-19 resulted in drastic changes to ways companies and their employees  deal with their clients, mostly resorting to online interactions as restrictions in several countries do not allow for physical events such as meetings, conferences and exhibitions. Although the vaccines offer hope, it is not likely that people will be as comfortable attending live events as in the past especially that current situation exposed them to alternative, sometimes more effective and convenient, ways of doing business...

Our goal is to connect End-Users with the right Technology Suppliers and provide support in the deployment process. 

To realise this goal more effectively, we reached out to over 500 UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) Operators, Tier#1 Contractors, and many international and national oil companies to identify industry trends and establish their specific interest in learning more about Technologies that address key operational challenges. The goal is to listen to our UK End-Users so our platform will be more aligned to actual needs of the sector. One thing was clear as a result of this survey: Energy Transition is a top priority for UK operators. This will be discussed further shortly.

The Energy industry has truly pushed the boundaries over time, and delivered projects that were considered unthinkable not too long ago. Technology has truly been an enabler. Yet, despite the undeniable role that technology has played, it is also clear that there is significant room to further accelerate the speed of technology deployment.

The good news is: technology deployment can be done… faster and with higher chances of success. Read how in this new piece!

This blog will explain how success can be replicated by looking at companies from other industries that have relevant or similar business concerns. When it comes to replicating what your neighbours have done, keep in mind that you are not limited to companies that are active in the same industry as you are. Other industries can offer very powerful ideas --- there are differences in some aspects, but there are also commonalities. Read our new article to learn more about X-Industry techs! 

Technological advances have enabled the industry to produce natural gas at never-seen-before rates by maximizing the potential from assets and ensuring optimum flow rates across the field. However, these pose plenty of challenges to match the demand at sales point – constantly fluctuating oil and gas price, production inefficiencies, cost pressures squeezing the margins and limited personnel on the field.

The uncertainty in the behavior of the challenges needs a connected system that helps in making dynamic decisions to suit the situation. For consistent and faster problem recognition, AI-driven digital twin is proposed to optimize the production of the gas gathering network.

Read more about Cerebra Digital Twin in our latest article!

The number of technologies that are available on the market is overwhelming, and new technologies become available every single day. Selecting the right technology for your business may seem like finding a needle in the haystack!

In this blog, we share some insights on how you can address this challenge, no matter how large or small your company is.

In one of our previous blogs, we revealed a few secrets to boost your technology with the Tech Positioning Programme, based on >20 years of technology deployment experience. The programme helps you to identify strengths and opportunities to improve the overall offering, and to make it as attractive as possible to the broadest appropriate customer base. 

People asked us the question whether the Tech Positioning Programme is a one-off event, or whether it needs to be repeated at regular intervals. It is the latter, and in this blog we explain why.

When an Oil/Gas or Petrochemical facility is in its operating phase it will require periodic maintenance activities throughout its lifetime. One of the most impactful recurring activities are the planned shutdowns (‘turnarounds’) that are typically conducted at intervals varying from 1-6 years.

Click on "Read more" to see how we helped a UK-based Oil & Gas Operator to shorten the duration of a turnaround by ~40% thanks to the right technology!

TechnologyCatalogue.com is growing fast. We’re rapidly going towards 500 technologies, and already >35,000 unique users have made use of the platform to select technologies that can improve business performance.

Besides the technology page for suppliers, we also offer other services. One of the services that we provide is ‘Market Insights & Analytics’.

The analytics give you powerful insights that can help you maximise the market potential of your technology. Learn more in this article!

Steinar’s practical guide is based on his experience over the years with radical innovation in Equinor and other companies. The book sums up the knowledge he has gained from this journey in a story-like format, emphasizing the importance of taking a systematic approach to radical innovation. Although TechnologyCatalogue.com does not focus on radical innovation, there is still a seamless fit with what we do. In this blog, we will explain what the link is!

The UK’s energy sector is changing more rapidly than ever before, driven by societal expectations and today’s challenging economic environment. Besides, the need for accelerated technology deployment has increased further as a result of the current low oil and gas prices as well as the current COVID-19 pandemic. To help address these challenges, the UK Energy Technology Platform was recently launched. In this article, we talk to Colin Black, Founder and Owner of Carjon-NRG, an Aberdeen headquartered Technology Deployment Service Company, delivering energy innovation around the world. Together we discuss the UK Energy Technology Platform, its functionalities, how it can address business needs and how it is a revolutionary asset for the Energy Industry - keeping in mind the challenges as outlined above! 

In one of our previous blog “ Getting technology deployed and replicated - 3 tips for suppliers”,  we shared three tips for suppliers to increase the chances that technology gets deployed and replicated. In this blog, we share three tips for Operators.

The oil and gas industry has truly pushed the boundaries over time and delivered projects that were considered unthinkable not too long ago. Technology has truly been an enabler. Yet, despite the undeniable role that technology has played, it is also clear that there is significant room to further accelerate the speed of technology deployment and realise its true value proposition, particularly in today’s challenging business environment.

In this blog, we want to share 3 tips for suppliers.

Most Operators would agree that technology and innovation are critical to remain competitive. Also, most Operators would agree with the statement that effective deployment is key to reap the full benefit from the technology & innovation efforts. Yet, few companies that we know of have effective technology deployment guidelines in place, such that it is clear to staff the steps they need to take to effectively get technology deployed into the business.

When we support Operators with streamlining their technology deployment guidelines, we focus on two main areas...

Over the years we have supported tens of different companies with streamlining technology delivery. Essentially all these companies have some sort of internal technology catalogue, in different shapes and forms. Sometimes these catalogues are very basic; such as an overview in PowerPoint or in Excel. And sometimes these catalogues are more advanced, including web-based environments. 

An internally developed technology catalogue offers advantages. It gives an overview of technologies that are considered important by the company, and it gives a chance to combine such overview with internal reviews, as well as links to internal documents such as application guides.

TechnologyCatalogue.com was launched in Q3 2018 as a key tool to support the deployment of novel and proven technologies in the energy industry. It may be interpreted as a ‘Tripadvisor’ like web platform for technologies. However, there are also some key differences as deploying technology is unfortunately not as simple as booking a hotel or restaurant. Read this blog to find out how TechnologyCatalogue.com connects an overview of technologies for the energy industry from deployment expertise to maximise impact for suppliers, end-users and investors.

The energy industry has truly pushed the boundaries over time, whereby technology has been a true enabler. Yet, despite the undeniable role that technology has played, it is also clear that there is significant room to further accelerate the speed of technology deployment. Including the deployment of technologies to cut emissions.

As a result, many people have been tasked with building a Technology Plan for their organisation; we notice that from the requests we have received since starting TechnologyCatalogue.com in 2018.

For those that have never built such a plan, it can be difficult to determine where to start.

In this blog we give you some practical guidance.

One of the books that I read years ago when I did my MBA was Crossing the Chasm, by Geoffrey Moore. The book describes the challenges to get products accepted by the early majority; this requires a different approach compared to selling products to innovators and early adopters.

The book has left a deep impression, and I’ve used the insights that the book gave me in the various technology deployment roles that I’ve had. However, a key learning that I got as well over the years: when it comes to getting technology deployed in the Oil & Energy business, it’s not so much ‘crossing the chasm’ that is the issue, but to get to the chasm in the first place.

The Minimum Intervention Strategy for Inspection was launched at the API Inspection Summit in Galveston. The objective is reducing the scope for turn arounds by optimizing the use of Risk Based Inspection analysis, applying Non-Intrusive Inspection where possible and replacing human entries for inspection with robot inspections.

Application in a major Oil- and Gas- producing company over 30 installations has led to:

• Up to 50% cost reduction for Turnarounds

• Average 5 days reduction of Turnaround time

• Significant reduction of confined space entries

What is a Minimum Intervention Strategy for Inspection (MISI)?

Although today’s business environment is clearly very challenging, there are still many opportunities to make a difference with technology. How can you maximise the chances of success, and organise your activities such that the uptake of technology is accelerated, even in today’s environment?

In this blog, we will reveal a few secrets to boost your technology with the Tech Positioning Programme, based on >20 years of technology deployment experience. 

This programme helps you to identify strengths and opportunities to improve the overall offering to make it as attractive as possible to the broadest appropriate customer base.

CTO’s and other technology leaders in Oil & Gas companies may all recognize this… You have a portfolio of technology solutions to address business challenges, and you’re experiencing less pull for the technologies as a result of COVID-19 and the low oil price. Or even no pull at all!

What to do about it? In this blog, we will give you insights about the tools you can use to assess your current technology portfolio. Also, we’ll give insights where typically quick wins through technology deployment can be found. The insights are based on the work we have done in support of tens of operators in the past years.