In the wake of low oil and gas prices, the next generation of "digital oilfields" will be needed to support
the Middle East's rapidly-growing for oil exploration and production over the next five years, declared industry experts today attending GITEX Technology Week 2015.
While global crude oil prices have dropped to their lowest levels in months, to USD 45-50 per barrel, the Middle East is set to be one of the world's-fastest growing region for oil demand in 2016, reaching 94 million barrels per day in 2016, according to a recent report by the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries.
With the oil and gas industry facing limited resources for exploration and production, energy firms are under high pressure to fully digitise their operations over the next five years, in order to maximize resources and accelerate cycle times, according to a new report by Frost & Sullivan.
GITEX Technology Week 2015 is hosting a wide range of technology exhibitors and thought leaders in the oil and gas sector, who are anticipating the growing need for energy solutions across cyber-security, integrating exploration and production, and process optimization.
"With our Technology Vision 2015 report showing that about half of the Middle East's organizations are already actively investing in digital technologies, the region's oil and gas companies need to ensure that they capitalize on the data opportunity by applying advanced analytics to generate measurable outcomes. This journey of digital transformation will have a significant impact on the industry's operations and its workforce, helping the sector to continue to post sustainable growth," said Kausar Qazilbash, Global Lead for Digital Business for Oil and Gas and Utilities Industries, Accenture.
