Schneider Electric has identified five key areas that can help energy companies to maximize value creation, profitability and sustainability through digital transformation.
The areas identified are process optimization; digital planning and operations; digital workforce knowledge capture and retention; improved safety and regulatory compliance; and digital asset performance.
General Manager Sub-Saharan Africa for Schneider Electric Process Automation, Ajibola Akindele, stated this at the just concluded 2021 Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, which was held in Abuja with the theme, “Fortifying the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry for Economic Stability and Growth”.
In his presentation titled “Driving Operational Profitability Through Digital Transformation”, Akindele stated that the current market dynamics have increased the need to improve operational efficiency at Oil and Gas companies.
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Concerning the need to maximize value creation, Akindele noted that the aging workforce, and the need for upstream producers seeking to produce crude safely and economically, amid increasing environmental pressures, and security threats, are driving the need to innovate with digital solutions.
With all these challenges, he said that the primary concern of most operating companies is to ensure safe, reliable, and compliant operations – while managing energy costs and other operational costs.
He noted that producers in the upstream market, pipeline operators in the midstream market and refineries in the downstream market can make the right technology investments while maintaining global competitiveness through digital transformation.
He averred that digital transformation is an enabler; which makes design, commissioning, and implementation easier across the entire asset lifecycle, while improving productivity and operations across the digital value chain.
Akindele enjoined oil and gas companies to start small in their strategy and adoption; but start now to maintain and improve their competitive market and industry position, adding that digital transformation is part of an ongoing journey involving the collaboration of people, processes, and assets through digital technology. It should be done in phases rather than all at once.
Schneider Electric is a proven industry leader stacked with digital transformation technology including Engineering; Planning and Operations; Asset Performance; and Control and Information.
