Digital Technology trend in Oil and Gas:

1- 3D Printing: 3D printing enables rapid prototyping for engineering designs that save
on research and development costs, we use 3D printing for rapid prototyping of
engineering designs. This enables us to test components on a small-scale in materials
like plastic before developing them on an industrial scale. For example, working on
the Stones deep-water project in the US Gulf of Mexico, the project team were able
to save several months as they developed a mooring system for a floating
production, storage, and offloading vessel.
2- Robotics: Remotely controlled or autonomous robots can carry out tasks safely in places
where people are unable to venture, such as the deep ocean, and places where additional
protection is needed
3- Computational technologies: High-performance computing (HPC) techniques generate
detailed visualisations of the subsurface from vast quantities of seismic data, supporting the
search for new resources. With Shell GeoSigns software suite, and other proprietary
technologies such as our Wide-Angle Azimuth (WAZ) toolkit, we can turn seismic data into
detailed maps. This technology helps geologists locate hydrocarbon deposits faster and
more-cost efficiently than ever, including hard-to-find resources.
4- Advanced analytics: Digital sensors installed in our operations around the world – from
production fields to manufacturing complexes – produce a constant flow of data which we
analyse to improve processes and take better business decisions. For example, our Smart
Fields approach uses state-of-the-art sensor technology to monitor and optimise recovery
from oil and gas fields. Smart Fields have been known to increase the total amount of oil
recovered by up to 10%, and natural gas by 5%, while boosting the rate of production. Our
Smart Connect technology collects data from sensors installed in chemical plants, refineries,
offshore platforms, and subsea pumps. The technology can optimise the performance of
plants by predicting when maintenance will be needed, to avoid unplanned downtime and
lost productivity. More than 5,000 machines globally connect to the system, which is
thought to have saved more than 3.5 million barrels in lost production since its introduction.
5- Photogrammetry: is the science of making measurements from photographs, especially for
recovering the exact positions of surface points
6- Machine Learning
7- Data Science
8- Microsoft HoloLens
9- VR Virtual Reality