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Started By
Message
Oil and gas workers are tech workers, and tech companies have entered oil and gas
Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:26 pm
Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:26 pm
quote:
I recently asked a group of employees at an oil field services company if they considered themselves oil workers, technology workers, or something else entirely.
“A digital oil field worker,” one of them chimed in with a smile. Nods followed around the room.
Those following the oil and gas industry probably aren’t surprised by this answer. In the last decade alone, the process has changed from mostly drilling wells directly downward, or vertically, to drilling mostly at different angles, called horizontal or directional wells.
A push for more efficiency in the oil patch has led to even more data collection and analysis of everything from the geology of drilling sites, to the operations of rigs and the engines powering them, to monitoring devices for leaks or other issues. Demands from investors and the public for more action on climate change has led to digital tools for tracking and reporting emissions.
This has meant oil and gas companies are recruiting more workers with advanced digital, technical, and analytic skills. It also means technology companies are getting into the oil and gas business.
quote:
Still, tech companies moving into the oil and gas space has not been without controversy. After backlash from an environmental group’s 2020 report on Big Tech selling tools to Big Oil, Google said it would no longer provide artificial intelligence to energy companies for locating and extracting fossil fuels.
That could act as a warning to other tech companies to steer clear of oil and gas over fears of negative public sentiment. That same sentiment could also hurt recruiting at oil and gas companies for workers with advanced digital skills
quote:
It’s clear that digital tools and technology have been so integrated into oil and gas operations that they’re here to stay. And for their part, oil and gas companies stress that increasing technology is helping them meet climate change goals.
What’s unclear is if that message will entice the right companies and employees to work with the oil and gas industry in the decades to come, or if they’ll take the same route as Google.
LINK
This certainly says a lot about Google and other tech companies who decide to take the same route of refusing to work with oil & gas companies. There’s currently a global energy crunch that does not appear to be going away anytime soon. Oil & gas companies are able to utilize tech products and services to help make the extraction, production and refinig of the most cost-efficient and reliable energy source “greener” or cleaner.
Yet, companies like Google who claim to want greener and cleaner energy aren’t willing to assist “Big Oil” in that initiative any more.
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Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:34 pm to ragincajun03
Good. frickem.
See how they deal with no chemicals products or plastic.
See how they deal with no chemicals products or plastic.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:40 pm to ragincajun03
This is all true and I hate it.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:43 pm to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
This is all true and I hate it.
I love all the data.
Helps us be super efficient.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:44 pm to ragincajun03
Prius Nuts [ON]
Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:45 pm to Salmon
quote:
I love all the data.
Helps us be super efficient.
Yep. Both spend per barrel and emissions per barrel have gotten better as a result of data and tech advances over just the course of the past 5-6 years.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:51 pm to Salmon
The total automation and online monitoring has resulted in a consolidation of knowledge and understanding of the overall system into just a few hands/positions.
Yes that’s more efficient but at least on the down stream space the plants understanding of their systems are dropping. Doesn’t help that engineers and managers are in rolls less than 4 years (less than 2 at times) and then shifted all over God’s green earth.
Just seems to be no way that people can build up true understanding and mastery of the entirety of these plants any longer.
Yes that’s more efficient but at least on the down stream space the plants understanding of their systems are dropping. Doesn’t help that engineers and managers are in rolls less than 4 years (less than 2 at times) and then shifted all over God’s green earth.
Just seems to be no way that people can build up true understanding and mastery of the entirety of these plants any longer.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:53 pm to ragincajun03
Current client is in the oil and gas business and they have everything monitored down to the minute for every piece of equipment they run. It's really impressive.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 1:56 pm to ragincajun03
These same kooks who do everything in their power to hurt the O&G industry would lose their shite if you didn’t sell their state/city/company power/fuel.
These lunatics whine all day long about fossil fuels but EVERYONE NEEDS THEM!!! EVERYONE!
So until these leftist tech companies 100% stop using fossil fuels— they are literally the evil they claim to hate
These lunatics whine all day long about fossil fuels but EVERYONE NEEDS THEM!!! EVERYONE!
So until these leftist tech companies 100% stop using fossil fuels— they are literally the evil they claim to hate
Posted on 8/23/22 at 2:02 pm to ragincajun03
quote:
companies like Google who claim to want greener and cleaner energy aren’t willing to assist “Big Oil” in that initiative any more.
Virtue signaling, but the clowns who clamor for it will think its a good thing. In reality the tech allows for cleaner and more efficient extraction and better monitoring the mitigate any byproducts. Without the tech and if not done under stateside guidance the same amount of oil will be extracted, but far less efficient with far greater pollution by a country who will under-report it, or just not report it at all. This is akin to turning a blind eye to lithium and cobalt mining in China and claiming EV's are so much better as they plug it into a system that either runs on fossil fuels, or is dependent on fossil fuels for extraction, storage, and insulation.
If you want an EV or PHEV, cool. Do it because you like the Tech, on-demand power, etc. If you want cleaner more efficient energy, cool, then support companies stateside and make the process more efficient.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 6:01 pm to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
The total automation and online monitoring has resulted in a consolidation of knowledge and understanding of the overall system into just a few hands/positions.
Yes that’s more efficient but at least on the down stream space the plants understanding of their systems are dropping. Doesn’t help that engineers and managers are in rolls less than 4 years (less than 2 at times) and then shifted all over God’s green earth.
Just seems to be no way that people can build up true understanding and mastery of the entirety of these plants any longer.
All of this is true, but on the flip side: chemical plants and refineries, generally speaking, are safer than they’ve ever been.
It’s an interesting dynamic. New projects, and particularly batch processes, are being automated to the point of being almost idiot-proof. Every flow path has an XV with interlocks nowadays. Because of that, there has been a consolidation of knowledge as you said. But eventually the question becomes whether that is really a bad thing overall.
I think the scary part is the risk that the pendulum swings too far and leads to some kind of disaster due to system failures, vulnerabilities, unforeseen circumstances with no ability to adapt, etc.
We are just now starting to see major chemical and refining companies buy into (for example) IOT and wireless tech where ~10 years ago they were terrified of that kind of stuff.
As for the O&G stuff.. I think the statement “oil and gas workers are now tech workers” is pretty overblown. Yes - automation, remote monitoring, and data analytics practices have changed tremendously in the past decade or so. But we are still talking about a tiny sliver of the workforce that makes the oil & gas industry run.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 6:36 pm to ragincajun03
A friend with Post Doc in carbon nanotubes/graphene at Tour Research Group, Rice, was laid off in 2015 due research funding for very high tech dried up after the oil price collapse of 2014. the last thing he did back then was make the first ever single wall carbon nanotube wire. It was 14 ga. He designed the reactor and made the wire.
Over a decade before that, his post doc research led to new polymer alloys for HTHP deepwater valve packing and gasket material. After being used by "Big Oil" it was marketed to the likes of NASA and military.
Over a decade before that, his post doc research led to new polymer alloys for HTHP deepwater valve packing and gasket material. After being used by "Big Oil" it was marketed to the likes of NASA and military.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 6:38 pm to lostinbr
Are you serious? Most of the manufacturing lines in Silicon Valley were built by instrument techs with experience in refining/chemical process controls and educated at Louisiana technical schools in the 1980's.
In 2000, instrument techs and maintenance foremen, in chemical plants, were using virtual reality 3D modeling to make sure that process design allowed for ease of maintenance and placement of type and location of controls was proper.
In 2000, instrument techs and maintenance foremen, in chemical plants, were using virtual reality 3D modeling to make sure that process design allowed for ease of maintenance and placement of type and location of controls was proper.
This post was edited on 8/23/22 at 6:41 pm
Posted on 8/23/22 at 6:55 pm to ragincajun03
quote:
I recently asked a group of employees at an oil field services company if they considered themselves oil workers, technology workers, or something else entirely.
When the next bust comes they will realize they are seen by every other industry as an oil worker. Good luck getting an interview based on oil field skills.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 7:03 pm to CitizenK
quote:
Are you serious?
Uh.. yes?
quote:
Most of the manufacturing lines in Silicon Valley were built by instrument techs with experience in refining/chemical process controls and educated at Louisiana technical schools in the 1980's.
I’m not sure the I&E techs building assembly plants are the type of “tech workers” being referenced in this thread.
quote:
In 2000, instrument techs and maintenance foremen, in chemical plants, were using virtual reality 3D modeling to make sure that process design allowed for ease of maintenance and placement of type and location of controls was proper.
Yes, I know what a model review is. Putting aside the fact that “instrument techs and maintenance foremen” don’t build Navisworks models, or even pay much attention to them outside of scheduled model reviews, I’m not sure what the point is? That engineers in industry use engineering software? Again that’s not really what OP is talking about.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 7:05 pm to ragincajun03
Like making lists translates directly to tangible stuff getting pulled out of the ground. The arrogance is astounding.
This post was edited on 8/23/22 at 7:06 pm
Posted on 8/23/22 at 7:06 pm to ragincajun03
LeArN tO cOiL
Posted on 8/23/22 at 7:08 pm to ragincajun03
Adds modern tech to a job and suddenly it is a tech job. 
Posted on 8/23/22 at 7:21 pm to lostinbr
Tech is a lot more than coding. Sort of pisses me off when people think tech is just to do with digital for consumers.
Posted on 8/23/22 at 7:35 pm to ragincajun03
And yet I still work with 30 YOs that can’t connect an hdmi cable to a screen. There are still grunts on the deck but their work is directed by people interpreting complex data.
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