Schlumberger vision on the digital future of the E&P industry

Opening the SIS Global Forum (September 13 – 15, Paris), Schlumberger Chairman and CEO Paal Kibsgaard highlighted the changes in the industry, noting that one solution to its challenges is “to make better use of the data and expertise we have within our industry by getting the right information to the right people at the right time and by redefining how we use collaboration to drive our work.”

So, What’s Next? Referring to the title of the SIS Global Forum, Kibsgaard gave delegates their first glimpse of Schlumberger’s new cognitive E&P environment, the DELFI cognitive E&P environment. More than just a digital answer to the industry’s challenges, the DELFI environment is a multi-dimensional ecosystem that unites E&P workflows from exploration to abandonment, by bringing together advances in domain, science, technical and digital disciplines.
Paal Kibsgaard discussed how in a global industry that spans a wide range of technical workflows and capabilities, scale is an essential driver, and how Schlumberger looks to leverage scale in three dimensions. The first is the breadth of the company’s technology offerings and corresponding technical expertise, which are essential components of technology and workflow integration. The second is the extent of the Schlumberger global footprint, which provides a scale to take on any size of project and the reach to quickly respond to customer needs in any corner of the world. The third is by expanding the company’s ability to capture, process and analyze the growing volume of data produced by its operations, and turn this data into knowledge and ultimately improved technical and financial performance.
“In spite of the many moving parts, we are at this stage seeing signs of the global oil market now balancing, however, as an industry we need to accept that oil prices and E&P investments are unlikely to return to the levels seen in the past anytime soon,” he said.
Kibsgaard concluded that today’s industry challenges can be overcome by creating a step-change in quality and efficiency of operations. By taking a systems approach to technology development, the company aims to maximize the value creation from the combination of hardware, software, data and domain expertise in a dramatically improved collaborative environment.