Print this pageThe Future of Collaboration in the Oil & Gas Industry
A survey was conducted by an independent consultant in the Fall of 2008 concerning the "Future of Collabortion" in the Oil & Gas Industry. This study aims to map how Oil & Gas companies utilize collaborative environments (CEs) to achieve business objectives, and how technology is applied to support these structures and work processes. The survey further identified and explores common shortcomings and bottlenecks experienced by companies trying to realize the potential value of collaboration. The survey concludes with a discussion of mission critical capabilities for Oil & Gas companies that are interested in using collaboration as a strategic enabler of production, decision making and knowledge sharing.
Many Oil & Gas companies are using advanced collaborative environmrnts (CEs) to support multidispliplinary work sessions, make decisions in real time, and gain access to external expertise. While there are differences in the terminology used (CEs can e.g. be referred to as visualization, integrated operations, real time decision, collaboration, etc), the basic functionalities provided are similar. This survey explores and addresses a number of these issues, related to facilitating collaborative work in powerful environments developed for effective and efficient knowledge sharing, visualization and joint decision making.
The Oil & Gas industry is very knowledge intensive, one of the key drivers of adoption of collaborative work evironments is their ability to support knowledge sharing and perpective brokering in multidisciplinary work sessions. While several companies have been exploring and using CEs for a number of years, most companies report a strong demand for these facilities and expect continued growth in use as the process are becoming even more streamlined and new ways of using these CEs are discovered.
The purpose of this study is to identify key success factors of CEs in the oil & gas industry and provide an overview of key requirements, trends and issues as they are experienced by oil & gas professionals, with the aim of improving the support for critical business processes affected by collaboration. The survey futhermore explores and documents how CEs can contribute to improved work flow, productivity and support for creative knowledge work.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90090©2009 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, June 7-10, 2009