TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION has always been the strong suit in the oil and gas industry. Think of the engineering marvels that made offshore development possible, especially deepwater and ultra-deepwater. Think of Galveston (Texas) native George Mitchell and his team who pioneered the use of horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing techniques to recover gas and oil economically from shale formations.
Today's technology developments are often in the areas of software solutions, including data recovery and interpretation, and it's just as much of a challenge and a boon to the industry as the earlier accomplishments. Think of companies such as Quorum Business Solutions, Enertia Software, Energy Navigator, EnergyNet, Drilling Info, Halliburton/Landmark, and others. The creative geniuses at these companies have developed solutions that make petroleum exploration and development more successful than it has ever been. And it's not just drillers and producers that are utilizing an array of software solutions. There is a huge variety of software available to investors, lenders, energy traders, hedge fund managers, asset managers, and others on the financial side of the petroleum business.
In this report, Mike Stone of Infor discusses some of the challenges facing oil and gas executives as they look at controlling costs and improving efficiencies, a highly relevant topic at a time when margins are weak. Mike advises industry leaders to think twice before cutting IT investments during a depressed market. This is exactly the time when IT solutions such as enterprise asset management software will have the greatest impact on a company's bottom line.
In a recent issue of OGFJ, Patrick Ng of Real Core Energy and Tyler Chessman of Microsoft offered their thoughts on what it takes to thrive in a "lower for longer" oil price environment. Prudent decision-making minimizes surprises, they said, urging a hybrid approach that combines bottom-up well modeling and top-down portfolio simulation. Through the use of sophisticated software, it is possible for companies to apply stress tests over a multitude of scenarios, seeking out the best refracking candidates or acreage and identifying opportunities for acquiring and divesting assets.
We hope you find value in some of the insights offered in this issue of OGFJ.
DON STOWERS
CHIEF EDITOR - OGFJ