COVID-19 Impact on Connected Oil and Gas in ICT Industry
COVID-19 which originated from China has threatened the survival of modern human beings by creating an unprecedented pandemic situation. The nano-sized virus has increased its footprint globally affecting more than 175 countries. Entire nations have gone into full lockdown as the total cases globally have crossed 50 million. Companies have been advised to shut down their offices and small businesses are facing bankruptcy. Major pharmaceutical companies are developing vaccines at a rapid pace in assistance with the government but it is still a year away from being commercially available.
The oil & gas industry was already facing a crisis before the pandemic and the advent of this pandemic has seemed to worsen its condition further. Due to these lockdowns, travel restrictions have also been put in place for which there has been a heavy reduction in fuel consumption across the entire transportation sector. Barring LPG and domestic natural gas, the demand for all the other fossil fuels is in free fall. The oil price crash which started before this pandemic has gone into overdrive mode due to this pandemic. Brent crude oil process has touched 17-year lows erasing billions of wealth from this sector. The energy demand from economies globally has also muted. However, as the economies unlock and travel bans are lifted in a phased manner, companies are introducing technologies such as machine learning, AI and digital twins among others and have also introduced connected solutions to digitalize their offerings which are pushing them towards industry 4.0. For instance,
Schlumberger has introduced its digital connected service that optimizes the operations of the website while ensuring their safety and increasing their efficiency. This service leverage cloud-based applications for building a robust data network.
AFTERMATH OF COVID-19 AND GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE TO BOOST THE MARKET
COVID-19 overall has further strained the operations of this sector which were already reeling from a crisis of its own. The prices have crashed from their all-time highs. This pandemic has also made the consumers switch to electric vehicles which are further choking the future prospects of this sector. However, as the nation’s rely on this industry for meeting their energy demands, various measures are being implemented to provide relief from the impact of this pandemic. Governments are investing significantly to increase their production and to meet the energy requirements. Implementing technology has become very essential as the integration of IoT has eased the operations. Apart from that, domestic companies are acquiring major stakes in oil plants.
For instance,
In November 2020, Perenco has initiated talks to acquire one of the four oil & gas producing blocks to become a major operator in Ivory Coast.
STRATEGIC DECISIONS FOR MANUFACTURERS AFTER COVID-19 TO GAIN COMPETITIVE MARKET SHARE
The demand for oil is increasing step by step as the economies are opening back steadily and lockdown restrictions are lifted partially. International flight restrictions have also been eased allowing limited flights to travel. To ensure their survival, they have shifted towards implementing technologies such as predictive analytics, AI as well as Industrial Internet of Things to increase their overall efficiency. This digital transformation is helping them to cut down operational expenses and execute quicker decisions increasing employee productivity.
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