Employing digitalisation from the early stage of oil and gas projects can help to deliver the greatest benefits to operators but getting that message across to an industry is not always easy.

The industry's inherent conservatism often makes it reluctant to be the first to adopt new technologies, or even proven technologies in new applications.

California-based software solutions provider Atomiton is currently working with US oilfield services companies that could see its platform and surface-installed sensors in future used for subsea operations.

According to Jane Ren, Atomiton chief executive and co-founder: “Those sensors would have to endure fairly extreme conditions and would need to be certified but we’re working with companies who put pipes in to find the way to get those sensors in, so that future inspections will become much easier.

“That’s another frontier we’re exploring with oilfield services providers.”

Atomiton does not manufacture sensors as the company wants to be “sensor agnostic”, although it does “couple and combine” sensors with electronics to ensure that data are correctly flowing, she explains.

“The outcome of being sensor agnostic is that when we deploy anything, we don’t get locked in for any specific hardware and this, over time, gives us more options and drives down total costs of solutions for our end-customers that require our software to be open to different kinds of sensors.”

In the upstream sector, Ren sees in five to 10 years many more decisions being automated and better correlated.

“We’re already looking at the drilling data downhole being utilised in real time... how to guide the drillbit’s speed and drilling direction to follow the path that’s designed.”

Looking to the future “we’re going to automate those processes much faster”, she says.

Ren says not all potential clients fully understand digitalisation and how software products can help their operations. “We sell products but today the market is at a stage where the products’ technology, let’s say an AI algorithm application, needs to be adapted to the very unique business problems customers have, whether it’s about equipment, or about their drilling practice or about the wells.

"A lot of customers, when they come to the door, they may or may not be sure which areas they want to focus on, which area is the most impactful for their digital transformation,” she says.

Atomiton is also in the development phase for a new generation of technology that will be able to prevent and early detect any pipe leaks or loosening in flanges at liquefied natural gas facilities.

“With LNG there are extreme conditions or pressure, so it is critical that the operator knows the condition of flanges. The flanges are secured with bolts and these can loosen over time,” she says.

Edge technology

Although Ren would not be drawn on which project, the company is today installing digital sensors with Edge technology, which can actively monitor the condition of the flanges and send early warnings based on how the bolts are changing, on liquefaction facilities under construction.

“That’s one area where we actually see quite a lot of value to be replicated across industry,” she adds.

Ren cites a McKinsey report that suggests digitalisation can translate to 20% cost savings for oil and gas companies.

However, this is granular.

Atomiton was able to help one of its clients save about 5% in operating costs for its fuel terminals, while another saw a 15% reduction in its energy costs for storing and processing crude oil products.

“We want to replicate those so that rest of the industry can gradually accumulate the knowledge of how to find those efficiencies and realise that 20% gain,” she says.

Atomiton is evaluating whether the company’s technology that has helped customers reduce energy costs for crude oil production and processing could also benefit LNG projects. “We’re looking at replicating the same kind of methods into an LNG plant, to see if we can gain any energy efficiencies by using algorithms to understand the process," Ren says.

“We’re still in the early stage but I think there’s a lot of potential, being able to increase the energy efficiency at LNG plants.” Data need to be ingested in real time and made sense of by using increasingly more intelligent AI methodology and software to interpret not only what has happened but, more importantly, to make predictions about ‘what ifs’ in the future, she says.

“So what’s going to happen to my energy demand? What’s going to happen to my pipeline if the corrosion continues to develop at speed?”

Atomiton was set up six years ago by Ren, who had previously worked at GE, and two other co-founders. Ren says the company’s aim is for software tools to enable operators make decisions proactively rather than reactively.

Focus

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