Data and Digital

To promote the use of data & digital technology to gain additional insight, support better decision making, reduce risk and improve efficiency across offshore energy sectors.

Industry engagement to date has highlighted its digital immaturity across Data, People, Innovation and Technology. Overcoming barriers currently limiting data sharing among companies and increasing integration between offshore energy sectors will require further evolution of data infrastructure, tools and technologies to allow planning and operational data to be accessed and shared to meet the challenge of decarbonising and enable development of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems.

2020 UKCS Data and Digital Maturity Survey

OGUK, NZCT, Opportunity North East, and the TLB launched a UKCS Data and Digital Maturity Survey report, (https://vimeo.com/519616459) delivered by Deloitte in 2020. With responses from over 70 organisations, the survey provided invaluable insight into the digital and data landscape across four dimensions: Data, People, Innovation, and Technologies.

2021 Data and Digital Maturity Survey Tailored Results

The 2020 UKCS Data and Digital Maturity Survey report was supplemented in early 2021 by Tailored Results Reporting and direct operator and supply chain company engagement. This offered specific feedback to companies that participated in the original survey through 1-on-1 engagements and revealed better understanding of the sector’s pain points and innovation opportunities.

2021 Data and Digital Maturity Survey Response

A response to the Data and Digital Maturity survey was completed later in 2021 highlighting the need for the oil and gas industry to acquire more “digital fluency” (the strategy, language and practices necessary to exploit digital opportunities), a step change in culture and behaviours comparable to changes in safety behaviours in the 90’s. It also revealed that, in most cases, bottom-up initiatives, rather than top-down leadership have driven progress in the sector to date. Without strong top-down leadership and support, organisations risk being left behind by digital disruption, and being out-competed by those more able to set organisational priorities for effective application of digital strategies and resources.

The survey activity above stimulated the progress of the two other part of the workplan:

Proofs of concept: Transformative opportunities, driven by digital concepts, and to be further informed by the Offshore Energy Data & Digital Strategy are being pursued. Those underway or under evaluation at the present time include:

Offshore Low Touch Energy Robotics and Autonomous Systems (OLTER): building a best-in-class offshore Industrial RAS (Robots and Autonomous System) centre in Scotland, focused on supporting the energy transition and positioning the country as an international leader in deploying robotic and automation technologies. There is potential for OLTER to become a vehicle for Data Trusts and Shared Analytics Platforms. 

See https://www.netzerotc.com/news-events/newsroom/news/2021/offshore-low-touch-energy-robotics-and-autonomous-systems-enabling-next-generation-robotics-and-autonomous-systems/

Data Trust: driven initially from a well P&A campaign use case
Shared Analytics Platform: driven initially from a fabric maintenance use case
Well Log Re-analysis: subsurface
Offshore energy architecture
High Fidelity Simulation / Digital Twins: SMART Basin
Blockchain: investigating net zero certification.

Offshore Energy Data and Digital Data Strategy Taskforce, a collaborative effort to create an offshore digital & data strategy spanning oil & gas and renewables was launched in 4Q 2021 (https://youtu.be/0iFTh35NQaQ). The initiative is chaired by the NSTA and steered jointly with OEUK, NZTC, CES, TCE, Renewable UK and the TLB. The Energy Systems Catapult and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult are leading the Taskforce programme (https://es.catapult.org.uk/project/offshore-energy-digital-and-data-strategy-taskforce/), with ongoing cross sector engagements and publication of findings and recommendations in 2Q 2022.

The final report was published on 16th June 2022 and is available at this link.