The oil and gas industry has been rapidly moving towards digitally maturing in the last couple of years by implementing tools, technologies and approaches of digital transformation. It is considered both successful and surprising move for an industry that has traditionally been resistant to up-and-coming technologies.

“Shell”, the international energy company, has been focused on digital initiatives that can help improve the efficiency and productivity, thus increasing revenue. Here are a few examples on how they did it:

• Logistics digitalization in order to improve stock monitoring
• Using advanced analysis to improve the operation performances of the of-shore projects. These tools can help improving the well placement, early equipment malfunction detection and anticipating unexpected events
• Automating back-office operations, such as the billing process, in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
• Improve route planning for the logistics vehicles by adding a GPS and traffic information.

Shell plans on using digital transformation to continue with the diversification of their business outside of oil and gas. Having these functioning tools and methods will make for an easier and smooth transfer to new business areas.

According to Deloitte, the oil and gas industry has a digital maturity rating of 5 out of 10. It is clear that it has a long way to go towards unlocking the true potential of the digital transformation. Nevertheless, the industry is moving in the right direction and we expect to see much more digital transformation activities in the coming years and decades.