New technologies for oil production abroad. New technologies for gas production
One of the priority tasks of the state is to ensure the dynamic development of the national economy in the long term. Innovative development is becoming an important tool for accelerating the development of the domestic economy.
In this regard, the oil and gas sector is one of the strategically important sectors of the economy, since it ensures the country's energy security. Oil production is the main and most dynamically developing sector of the country's economy. Tax revenues from the oil and gas sector provide a third of the budget revenues.
Increasing oil production and implementing a large-scale program to increase the resource base is one of the priority areas for the oil sector in the Republic of Kazakhstan. However, the raw materials orientation of the Kazakh economy necessitates the development of innovative processes in this sector of the economy. The need to introduce innovative processes is caused by the existing problems in the oil sector of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which include the following: dependence on market conditions; growth and improvement of the state of the raw material base; cost reduction in all parts of the production process; ensuring environmental safety; creation of new industries; increase in product market, etc.
In modern conditions, an increase in oil production is provided both by the commissioning of new wells and by an increase in oil recovery through the use of new technologies. The quality of reserves in all fields is different, however, recoverable reserves amount to 30-40% of geological ones. The volume of recoverable reserves depends on the technologies used in production, therefore, the use of new technologies makes it possible to start the exploitation of reserves previously classified as non-recoverable, as well as to increase the oil recovery factor by 5-7%.
Table 1 presents the most significant technological innovations in four main segments of the oil and gas complex: exploration, drilling and well injection, production, and well workover management.
Table 1 - The most significant technological innovations in the main segments of the oil and gas complex
Segments of the oil and gas complex |
Technological innovation |
Intelligence service |
3D seismic 4-dimensional visualization Remote measurement Subsalt imaging |
Drilling and well injection |
Hydraulic fracturing with a mixture of CO2 and sand Coil pipes Horizontal drilling Telemetry system for determining parameters while drilling Multilateral drilling Offshore drilling Pneumatic drilling Drilling small wells Synthetic drilling fluids |
Gas purification from components Articulated mining optimization coal bed gas production freeze and thaw cycle / evaporation Gas to Liquid Conversion gas drying by glycol injection Modern mining processes protection against gas leaks pneumatic downhole pressure reduction equipment Offshore mining platforms Downhole oil and water separation Environmental protection programs Installation for the return of vapors to the liquid phase |
|
Well workover organization |
Progressive approaches to the organization of well workover Drilling Rig for Offshore Fields Infrastructure creation |
New technologies have an impact on the development of international competition in the oil and gas sector of the economy:
- by increasing the value of assets and products of companies, which is an important advantage for consumers, shareholders and investors.
- by increasing the opportunities for companies to develop in different segments. This trend is contributing to the emergence of a number of lines of business for companies. The massive development of these areas stimulates the expansion of the resource base of the oil and gas complex.
- by reducing production costs. The use of new technologies, along with restructuring, are the best solution to reduce costs in the oil industry.
The main elements of modern oil production technology are methods of reservoir stimulation and treatment of the bottomhole zone of wells (BHZ). When stimulating the formation, the main goal is to replenish the formation energy by improving filtration resistance to fluid movement in the near wellbore zone. The greatest effect is usually achieved with the simultaneous application of reservoir stimulation and near-wellbore treatment methods.
When stimulating the reservoir, the reservoir pressure is maintained at the initial level, which makes it possible to develop the reservoir at high pressure drops between the injection lines of the working agent and the bottomholes of oil wells, as well as to eliminate the transition to operation in the mode of dissolved gas, characterized by a low oil recovery factor.
When treating the bottomhole zone, oil flow into the well is accelerated as a result of an increase in the formation permeability in this zone (mechanical and thermal impact) or a decrease in oil viscosity (thermal impact).
Currently, in the CIS and abroad, more than 60 measures are being taken to restore the productivity of wells, and more than 130 methods are under development.
In 2012, at the Kalamkas field, geological and technical measures (geological and technical measures) were carried out in 7 types, such as commissioning new wells, drilling a side horizontal wellbore (BBGS), return to another horizon, hydraulic fracturing (hydraulic fracturing), shot-shooting, hydromechanical crevice perforation (GMSCHP).
So, for example, in 2012, 24 hydraulic fracturing was carried out in production wells and a positive economic effect was obtained in the amount of 287,833 thousand tenge. One-time costs for 24 hydraulic fracturing operations amounted to 713 610 thousand tenge, or on average for 1 hydraulic fracturing - 29 734 thousand tenge. Additional oil production in 2012 due to hydraulic fracturing amounted to 29344.60 tons, or 1,222.69 tons per well.
Implementation of measures aimed at: improving the performance of wells, increasing the efficiency of wells and production equipment, increasing oil recovery, checking the reliability and tightness of the equipment of the wellhead and production casing, etc.
Literature:
1. Strategy of industrial and innovative development of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2003-2015. Approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated May 17, 2003 No. 1096
2. Oil and problems of the national economy // Oil. Gas. Law of Kazakhstan. - 2010. - No. 34. - P.3-6.
3. OI Egorov. Oil and gas complex of Kazakhstan: problems of development and effective functioning. Almaty, 2003
4. Improvement of methods of economic evaluation of the efficiency of investments in technological projects. Taikulakov. // Sayasat-Policy, No. 2, 2008, P.38. Industry of Kazakhstan. 06.2007, p. 34.
1The oil and gas industry in Russia is faced with the need to change technological development. Since oil production in traditional regions is characterized by a decrease in the production of "light" oil and an increase in hard-to-recover reserves, as well as the depletion of oil and gas reserves at depths of up to 3 km. To change the current situation in the oil industry, it is necessary to replenish active oil reserves and create effective technologies for the extraction of hard-to-recover oil reserves. This task can be solved by intensifying geological exploration in new regions (Eastern Siberia, the Arctic shelf), and then industrial development of great depths. The innovation process in the Russian oil sector is taking place. And the dominant position is occupied by large vertically integrated companies such as OJSC Surgutneftegaz, OJSC NK Rosneft, OJSC RITEK.
hard-to-recover reserves
innovative technologies
enhanced oil recovery
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2. Darishchev V. Innovations of JSC "RITEK" // Oil and Gas Vertical. - 2011. - No. 5.
3. Dmitrevsky AN .. Innovative development of the oil and gas industry in Russia // Rational development of mineral resources. - 2013. - No. 7. (www.roninfo.ru).
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6. The results of the production activity of the branches of the Russian fuel and energy complex // Fuel and energy complex of Russia. - 2000–2013. - No. 1.
7. Summary indicators of energy production in the Russian Federation // Info TEK. - 2000–2013. - No. 1.
8. Statistics // Exploration and production - 2005–2013. - No. 1.
9. Filimonova I. .. The current state of the oil industry in Russia // Drilling and oil. - 2013. - No. 5.
10. NK Rosneft. Annual report. 2013 [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://www.rosneft.ru.
11. OJSC “Surgutneftegas” Annual report 2013 [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http: // www. surgutneftegas.ru.
Depletion of traditional deposits at depths not exceeding 2000-3000 m requires large-scale industrial development of depths of 3-5 km, and in some regions - 5-7 km. It means that the time of cheap oil is coming to an end in the country and a new stage in the development of Russian oil production begins, which is characterized by an ever-increasing share of hard-to-recover reserves. As a result, the application and development of new innovative approaches to oil production, such as a system of horizontal wells, thermal gas treatment technology, water-gas treatment, technology based on a polymer-gel system. The use of these technologies will increase oil recovery from existing wells, and will also allow the development of new oil and gas wells.
The oil industry of Russia today is faced with the need to change the technological development of the oil and gas complex. The state of oil production in traditional regions, which are the main suppliers of oil and gas, is characterized by:
● concentration of oil production in fields with highly productive reserves;
● a decrease in the share of active and an increase in the share of hard-to-recover oil reserves;
● a decrease in the average oil recovery factor both in individual regions and in the country;
● the end of the era of giant fields with unique reserves of oil and gas, the exploitation of which began in the 1960s-1970s;
● depletion of oil and gas reserves at depths of up to 3 km.
It is rather difficult to give an example of an oil-producing country that would solve such cardinal and large-scale problems in a relatively short period of time. As always, we were let down by our wealth: a large number of large and giant fields with light, low-viscosity oil, located in natural reservoirs with high-capacity reservoirs. For such fields, a thoroughly developed technology for maintaining reservoir pressure was created, which made it possible to leave "until better times" often very large fields, but with parameters that did not allow the use of this technology.
A significant depletion of traditional deposits at depths not exceeding 2-3 km pushes large-scale industrial development of 3-5 km depths, and in some regions - 5-7 km. Great depths mean difficult mining and geological conditions, different fluid dynamics, the development of oil and gas reservoirs changed by catagenetic transformations, these are higher temperatures and pressures. In order to substantiate the oil and gas content at depths of 7-10 km, and for real oil and gas production from these depths, it is necessary to introduce new scientific, technical and technological solutions.
Thus, the time of cheap oil is coming to an end in the country and a new stage in the development of Russian oil production begins, which is characterized by an ever-increasing share of hard-to-recover reserves.
Up to 70% of Russian hydrocarbon reserves can be called hard-to-recover. It is in relation to these reserves that innovative technology can be successfully applied. It is quite important to use these technologies for the development of offshore oil and gas fields, where drilling and development costs are much higher than onshore. In addition, hydraulic fracturing in 3D format will increase the volume of oil production in conventional fields. Today, Russia produces about 35% of hydrocarbons from the total reserves of fields.
Applying actively in recent years methods of intensification of production and putting into development new large fields (Vankorskoye, etc.), it is possible to maintain the average daily flow rate of one well, at the level of 10 tons (table). Due to the fact that there is an active development of fields in the East of Russia, this makes it possible to increase the volume of production drilling of wells. So, in 2011 and 2012, 18 million m and 19.8 million m were covered, respectively, compared to the level of 14 million m a year earlier. However, the volume of exploration drilling continues to remain at a fairly low level. So, in 2012, the volume of exploration drilling was lower than the corresponding indicator of the 1990s and early 2000s. ...
To change the current situation in the oil industry, it is necessary to replenish active oil reserves and create effective technologies for the extraction of hard-to-recover oil reserves. This task can be solved as a result of the intensification of geological exploration in new regions (Eastern Siberia, the Arctic shelf), and then the industrial development of great depths.
Selected technical and economic indicators of the Russian oil industry in 1995-2012
Index |
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Oil production, million tons |
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Oil production by well operation method,% |
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pumping |
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compressor |
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fountain |
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Average daily flow rate of one well, i.e. |
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Production well stock, thousand pcs. |
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Inactive well stock, thousand pcs. |
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Share of inactive fund,% |
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Drilling volume for oil, million cubic meters |
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operational |
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exploratory |
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Average depth of wells completed by production drilling, m. |
Russian oil companies are increasingly looking at fields that require innovative development. These fields include hydrocarbon deposits in low-permeable shale rocks, which are quite difficult to drill. The reserves of shale hydrocarbons are virtually unlimited - they will last not for 20-30 years, like gas and oil in traditionally developed fields, but for 200-300, analysts say.
Nevertheless, the innovation process in Russia in the oil sector is still taking place. The dominant position here is occupied by large vertically integrated companies.
An example of this is OJSC “Surgutneftegas”, the use of innovative technologies is the main principle of activity and the most important competitive advantage. The economic effect obtained from the use of intellectual property objects in 2012 amounted to 66.1 million rubles. Over the past ten years, the Company has completed about 400 intellectual developments, with the total value of intangible assets exceeding RUB 417 million. The use of advanced technologies allows the Company to bring into commercial production oil deposits with hard-to-recover reserves, the development of which has not been carried out before, and to develop new fields with a complex mining and geological structure.
In the field of oil and gas production, OJSC “Surgutneftegas” in 2013 took 232 measures to master new technological processes, new types of production and equipment with an economic effect of more than 10 billion rubles, 97 events were carried out to test samples of new equipment and technologies. The greatest economic effect was achieved in the field of enhanced oil recovery (47%) and maintenance and workover of wells (27%).
Development by OJSC "Surgutneftegas" of the AS4-8 deposit of the Fedorovskoye field by a system of horizontal wells (which made it possible to involve an additional 140 million tons of oil reserves in the development)
Another large oil company, OJSC NK Rosneft, has an innovative activity aimed at achieving the level of the world technological leader in the energy industry. The technology of development of low-permeable reservoirs was introduced at the fields of LLC RN-Yuganskneftegaz. In 2013, 32 wells were drilled, the volume of additional production amounted to 167 thousand tons. According to the Company's specialists, the potential for implementation is the commissioning of 100 million tons of hard-to-recover reserves, and the expected economic effect will exceed 5 billion rubles. In 2013, new oil and gas condensate and gas condensate deposits were discovered in the Irkutsk Region at the Mogdinsky license area. The development of the technology of the borehole drillable system was completed to eliminate extended leaks in the production string. The introduction of this technology will allow the Company to commission more than 400 idle wells within 10 years, with an additional production of more than 47 thousand tons of oil per year and an economic effect of more than 240 million rubles per year.
OJSC RITEK can also be classified as an "advanced type" company, which currently produces over 3 million tons of oil, mainly using modern technologies. This company is engaged not only in the implementation of projects for the development of new fields (as a rule, with low and low productivity indicators, which makes it difficult to use traditional technologies), but also develops new technologies for enhanced oil recovery. At present, OJSC RITEK owns 93 objects of intellectual property. Innovative equipment and technologies belonging to OJSC RITEK are being introduced not only at its own fields, but are also implemented on the basis of licensing agreements in other companies. Basic innovative technologies include:
● Thermal gas treatment is a technology that should involve in commercial development unconventional hydrocarbon resources of the Bazhenov formation, which contain about 50-150 billion tons of light oil. Applying this technology, it will make it possible to increase the degree of hydrocarbon recovery from the deposits of the Bazhenov formation from 3-5% to 30-40% with the use of thermal gas treatment.
● Water-gas treatment: this technology is designed to enhance oil recovery by alternately injecting water and gas into the reservoir. This solution allows increasing oil recovery from 15-25% to 30-50%.
● Technologies based on the RITIN polymer-gel system. RITIN-10 is a composition of polymeric substances. When the RITIN-10 reagent is mixed with water, a polymer-gel system is formed without introducing additional components. Application of the polymer-gel system RITIN-10 in the oil industry allows:
Increase the displacement capacity of the agent injected into the formation;
Reduce the water cut of the produced products;
Change the direction of filtration fluid flows;
Increase oil recovery of highly watered reservoirs at a later stage of development;
Introduce previously unworked layers and interlayers into development;
Increase the sweep rates by waterflooding;
Align the injectivity profile of the injection well.
A generalizing indicator that can characterize the development of innovative processes is the share of oil production by new methods. According to experts, in Russia additional oil production through the use of new technologies and methods of enhanced oil recovery is about 60 million tons (or about 20% of the total production in the country). Thus, in the future, the volume of oil production in Russia will depend on the use of promising technologies in unconventional fields. In this connection, oil production may increase to 500-520 million tons by 2020.
Today, for the development of the Russian oil and gas industry, an innovative development strategy is required, which will have to provide conditions for the maximum use of the achievements of scientific and technological progress. As a result, the industry will be able to:
To develop and apply equipment and technologies that will ensure highly efficient development of hard-to-recover reserves, and primarily oil for the conditions of low-permeability reservoirs, residual oil reserves of flooded zones, high-viscosity oils, oil reserves in gas-cap zones;
Introduce existing and create new methods of influencing the reservoir in order to increase oil recovery, as well as plan and manage the state of the well stock and develop environmental (resource-saving) production technologies.
Bibliographic reference
Belozertseva O.V., Belozertseva O.V. PROSPECTS FOR APPLICATION OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE OIL INDUSTRY OF RUSSIA // International Journal of Applied and Fundamental Research. - 2015. - No. 8-3. - S. 502-505;URL: https://applied-research.ru/ru/article/view?id=7137 (date accessed: 04/27/2019). We bring to your attention the journals published by the "Academy of Natural Sciences"
In an interview, Gazprom Neft Technology Director, Head of its Science and Technology Center (STC) M. Khasanov spoke about why the company today pays so much attention to technology development and digitalization.
Gazprom Neft is one of the leaders in the Russian oil and gas industry in terms of technological development. In an interview, Gazprom Neft Technology Director, Head of its Science and Technology Center (STC) M. Khasanov spoke about why the company today pays so much attention to technology development and digitalization.
In recent years, Gazprom Neft has been paying great attention to the development of technologies, including digital ones. In this respect, the company is one of the leaders in the Russian oil and gas industry. Why is the development of technology an important area of the company's development today?
The development of technologies today is the main task in the oil industry as a whole: the so-called easily recoverable hydrocarbon reserves are running out, we are moving on to work with completely new reserves, to new regions where different approaches are simply needed. When I talk about technology, I mean the broader concept of the term. This is not only new equipment, new materials, but also a new organization of labor, new methods of preparation and decision-making, processing and storage of information. Our challenge is to achieve radical efficiency. Usually, when talking about efficiency, they mean 10% -15%. However, to develop hard-to-recover reserves, the share of which is growing every day, an increase of 60% or more is required, that is, radical changes.
- What parameters can be used to measure efficiency?
If we are talking about oil production, then this is its unit cost. The efficiency of a well is determined by its cost and the amount of oil that can be produced with its help. Today we have to use more high-tech, more complex and, as a result, more expensive wells. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the increase in well productivity is greater than the increase in cost. This is the only way we can increase efficiency by 50% -100%.
- What is the role of the scientific and technical center (STC) under your leadership?
STC is engaged in the creation of technologies, their testing and implementation. We carry out the process of technology management. That is, together with the production units of the Scientific and Technical Center, it forms a technological strategy, is responsible for its administration and updating. Next, we will organize the effective implementation of this strategy.
- What is Gazprom Neft's technological strategy?
Technological strategy is a tool for mastering new classes of resources and increasing work efficiency. In its current form, it was approved in 2014 and includes 9 areas of technological development that will bring us the maximum effect, taking into account the portfolio of projects that the company has.
The strategy is formed from two sides: first of all, we go from the needs of our production assets. For example, we clearly know how many hard-to-recover reserves, which are now unprofitable to develop, are in Gazprom Neft's piggy bank. The task is to select technological keys in order to make the exploitation of such fields profitable.
On the other hand, we are exploring new opportunities, looking at how science is developing, what new products and solutions are emerging, what new information technologies can be offered by the innovative environment. And we are looking for opportunities to leverage these innovations, including those emerging in other industries, to improve efficiency.
Among the 9 areas of the Techstrategy is the development of unconventional resources, the so-called shale oil, the analogue of which in Russia is the Bazhenov formation. We are working on the creation of approaches and technologies for the development of one of the most ambitious resources: the increase in reserves from unconventional sources of bazheni can reach 760 million tons of oil.
Further, since about 70% of our capital expenditures are for well drilling, one of the main directions of our technological strategy is new technologies for drilling and completing wells. The task is to reduce their unit cost as much as possible without losing quality. Of course, working with new categories of reserves leads to the fact that the price and complexity of wells are growing. But this should happen in a controlled way, and not dozens of times. At the same time, we are striving to select technologies that allow a well with a high cost to produce several times more oil than traditional one. That is, the well becomes twice as expensive, and we get three times more oil. According to our estimates, in the future in 2025, the effect of this technological direction may reach 100 billion rubles. This is the amount of potential cost savings.
Another area is enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods, which can provide additional production of more than 60 million tons of oil equivalent. And geological exploration technologies - to increase the company's resource base by 100 million toe. This is also in the perspective of 2025.
Of course, one of the most important areas is digitalization. Our company was engaged in this work back in 2012, when even the term “digitalization” was practically not used. We call this area Electronic Asset Development. Why is it important? The fact is that the oil company itself does not drill, does not build wells - this is done by our contractors. The main task of oil workers is to prepare the most effective investment decisions. This process involves working with a huge amount of data, modeling, scrupulous analysis of information. And if equipment and materials can be created by service companies, then decision-making algorithms must be developed by us ourselves - this is the basis for the development of our business. Of course, the digital solutions that we create based on these algorithms allow us to evaluate our projects and determine how to make them optimally effective.
- What effect should the implementation of the technical strategy bring?
The overall expected effect of the Techstrategy in the future in 2025 is the involvement of more than 100 million tons of additional reserves in the development, more than 100 billion rubles of cost savings.
- How is the technical strategy being implemented?
As I said, the tech strategy is divided into nine areas. Each includes various projects. Over the past three years, we have launched more than 120 projects that are now in the works. Each has a steering committee, project team, project manager. Upon completion of the project, we determine its effectiveness, and, if successful, we transfer it to large-scale implementation. At the same time, in the first year, we continue to monitor the replication process.
- How is the technology selection process going?
Let's show this with an example. Suppose that we are offered a new technology of fracturing fluid injection for the development of gas cap deposits, so that during oil production we do not touch gas reservoirs. The first stage is an assessment of the proposed technology, modeling of the processes occurring during hydraulic fracturing using the proposed technology. Today we are the center of expertise that allows us to make our own assessment - do we agree with the results that are promised to us. We have long since moved away from experimental tests "in the field" at the first stage. About 30% of the staff of our scientific and technical center are physicists and mathematicians with fundamental academic education. In their first specialty, they were not associated with the oil and gas industry, but now they use their knowledge to solve the problems of our business. They take a large part in the analysis of technologies, carry out the necessary calculations. Having understood, based on the results of laboratory and mathematical experiments, that the technology can be useful, we determine what increase in production it will allow to get, and how much it will cost us. We have a very well-developed so-called cost-engineering, that is, we can calculate in advance the cost of various objects and processes. After that, we will be able to understand whether the new technology will become cost-effective.
Then we come to the stage of selection. We have to design an experiment. After that, we go to real deposits, carry out 2-3 operations using innovation. If the forecasts come true or exceed our expectations, large-scale implementation begins.
- Let's go back to the issue of digitalization. In what segments is it needed today?
I will talk about the block related to field development. The life cycle of an asset consists of the stages of exploration, development, production. And everywhere digitalization is needed, because modeling, designing and implementing projects in the oil industry involves processing a huge amount of information. On the other hand, this information is constantly lacking, because most of the data is indirect. We can cover the entire drilling rig with sensors, measure everything that can be measured, but we still cannot fully understand the properties of the formation. Since most of the data is, in fact, indirect signs that need to be further interpreted. But the greater the amount of indirect information, the higher the confidence that you correctly determine the properties of the reservoir. Only with the help of machine learning and analysis of the relationship between indirect data and reservoir properties can we more or less accurately determine its direct characteristics.
- At all stages?
Undoubtedly. Let's start with the exploration stage. As I said, we can determine the properties of the reservoir only by indirect indicators. We are conducting seismic surveys, but the results of processing its data can only give an approximate idea of the structure of the reservoir. And in this case, a priori information helps us a lot. We get it using basin modeling. That is, we create models of huge oil and gas basins located in gigantic territories. By simulating such a basin, we understand what formations a particular field can consist of. And understanding what kind of reservoir it is, we can more confidently interpret seismic data. Moreover, using this information, we can significantly increase the efficiency of the seismic survey design (for example, correctly position the seismic sensors, avoiding the uniform spread). This is called full wavelength modeling and it allows us to select the right seismic technology, spreads, seismic survey design, seismic data processing and interpretation. This is just one example. In fact, all intelligence tasks are related to the interpretation of indirect data, the attraction of peers and continuous learning.
The development of any field begins with a concept. How does this part happen in the industry? Usually they say this: we have such and such a layer, we will locate so many wells on it. As a result, the production profile is determined, for which the infrastructure is built. But in reality, production forecast cannot be made only on the basis of reservoir productivity assessment. An integrated view of the entire “reservoir-wells-pads-infrastructure” system as a whole is required. It is necessary to assess not only the productivity of wells, but also their cost, as well as the cost of facilities and infrastructure that needs to be built to ensure a particular level of oil and gas production. Thus, we carry out system engineering. We make decisions based on the economy, and we must consider different options for the production profile for different options for arrangement. And at each stage to assess how a change in one parameter or another will affect the system as a whole. For example - the results of drilling the first wells were obtained - they should be taken into account immediately and the estimates should be adjusted. Moreover, already at the concept stage, we need to know the cost of the project. Unfortunately, this problem was not solved in Russia, because we believe that the cost can be determined only after the preparation of the estimate documentation.
- And what are you doing?
Costengineering works for us. We create cost models, a software product that allows you to simulate the system as a whole and calculate the NPV of the project under a variety of scenario conditions and values of reservoir and fluid parameters. This requires a huge amount of calculations, enumeration of millions of options, such work can only be fully performed by a machine using cognitive technologies.
Systems engineering, when we see the entire field as a common system, is also associated with a large volume of calculations and is inseparable from digital technologies. And system engineering allows us to get the maximum effect from the project: after all, it is at the initial stage, when nothing has yet been built, that the parameters can be changed so as to achieve the optimum. That is why programs that allow us to work with data at the initial stages of a project are so important, determining the most effective solutions. When the fields are already launched, the value of IT products is significantly reduced, because there is much less room for change.
After we have made the concept, we transfer it to the design and estimate institutes, they will prepare the design and estimate documentation, and offer technical solutions. At the same time, we must ensure that the most correct design decisions are made. For this we create so-called standard technical solutions. And so we keep all these bases of standard solutions and transfer them to design institutes. In the future, machines will also be able to do this.
- The project is ready. Mining has begun. What's next?
Then we solve several problems: the safety and integrity of equipment, reducing operating costs and increasing oil recovery. A person cannot keep track of all the processes and quickly change something during the extraction process. Machines do it. Again digital technologies.
- If you compare Gazprom Neft with the leaders of the oil industry, do you have anything to boast about?
First, I would like to highlight our success in developing low-permeability reservoirs. Today we are developing an oil field, moreover, in the waterflooding mode, where the reservoirs have a permeability of about 1 md. This is a unique experience. There is practically no such thing in the West. The second thing in which, I believe, we are ahead of Russian companies and are at the forefront, compared to the West, is cost engineering and systems engineering. The third is, of course, digitalization. Moreover, I believe that we differ from other companies in the focus of digitalization. Almost all oil companies, when they talk about digitalization, mean a digital field. But this concept implies the digitalization of an already being developed field. All the money is invested in digitalization at the stage of production. But where is value created? As I said, the core value is created at the concept stage. At this stage, a radical efficiency of 50% -100% can be achieved. When you are already living in the implementation stage, then the efficiency can be improved by 10% -15%. Almost no major in the world invests the main money in digitalization at the concept stage. This is precisely our competitive advantage.
- Do you need partnerships with other companies in Russia and in the world?
Undoubtedly. We cooperate with all the leading universities in Russia. We are trying not to lose contact with Western universities, although these ties have been weakening lately. We cooperate with all oil companies in Russia and abroad with whom we have joint projects. We have a very large number of contacts with service companies.
- In 2017, a delegation from Saudi Arabia visited the STC. How is your cooperation developing?
We exchange experience, think about launching technological projects in Russia and Saudi Arabia. When oil prices dropped to their lowest levels, everyone started thinking about radical efficiency.
Recently, our specialists met and held a three-day technical session in four areas: drilling practices, well design and drilling technology, development of reservoirs with low permeability, development of a multi-stage hydraulic fracturing project. We can work together on these areas.
- Are there any areas in which the Saudis are especially interested?
For example, they were interested in the methods of conceptual design, the methodology for assessing the value of information. Geomechanics is also a very important area. We were the first in the country to establish a geomechanics center. They can get these technologies only from service companies, and we can offer our developments.
INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIA: THE ROLE OF OIL AND GAS BUSINESS
T. POGODAEVA, D. ZHAPAROVA, N. KAZANTSEVA, Tyumen State University
The analysis of the innovative development of the Russian oil and gas sector in comparison with the innovative development of the US oil and gas industry is carried out. In order to identify the role of individual entities in the development of the national innovation system (NIS) of the country, an econometric analysis was carried out. The results obtained indicate the significant role of the oil and gas industry in the innovative development of the national economy. The author's vision of the model of accelerated innovative development of the oil and gas business in Russia is shown. The publication was prepared within the framework of the scientific project No. 15-32-01350 supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities.
Gives an analysis of the innovative development of Russian oil and gas sector in comparison with the innovative development of the oil and gas industry in the US. Econometric analysis was conducted in order to identify the role of individual actors in the development of a national innovation system (NIS) of the country. The results indicate the important role of the oil and gas industry in the innovative development of the national economy. The author's vision of the model of accelerated innovative development of oil and gas business in Russia has shown.
In recent decades, the global oil and gas industry has been demonstrating a rapid acceleration of innovative development and technological complication of production processes. The following figures indicate the role of the Russian oil and gas segment of the economy: the oil and gas sector forms about 20% of GDP, 50% of revenues in the structure of the federal budget. We receive 67% of foreign exchange earnings from the export of oil, gas and refined products in the total volume of exports, the oil industry provides 25% of the volume of investments in fixed assets. Despite the dynamic pace of modernization of the oil and gas sector in Russia, there are still problems of unformed innovative behavior of business and lack of coordination between the participants in the innovation process. In this regard, it is especially important to study the innovative development of oil and gas companies as the main subjects of the innovation system of Russia as a whole.
The concept of national innovation systems (NIS) has attracted the attention of economists since the 1980s. XX century. In general, the concept of a national innovation system is interpreted differently by different specialists, but most adhere to an institutional approach to its definition, within which NIS is understood as “a set of institutions related to the private and public sectors, which individually and in interaction with each other condition the development of and the diffusion of innovations within a particular state ”. The role of the business sector (namely, oil and gas companies) in the development of the national innovation system was studied by V. Kryukov (2013), V. Marshak (2013), A. Kontorovich (2013).
National investment systems (NIS) are understood as "a set of institutions related to the private and public sectors, which individually and in interaction with each other condition the development and dissemination of innovations within a particular state."
Today, the Russian oil and gas industry, despite the pressure from the sanctions, is at the stage of active modernization and increasing the science intensity of its products. What are the main trends and characteristic features of the current stage of its innovative development?
1. The business sector of the oil and gas industry of NIS of Russia is characterized by positive dynamics of indicators of innovative activity, but relative to foreign competitors it presents a limited demand for R&D, which slows down the overall modernization of the entire oil and gas industry of the country. For the period 2008 - 2013 there is an increase in investments in R&D by companies with state participation - OJSC NK Rosneft and PJSC Gazprom. The most rapid growth is illustrated by OJSC NK Rosneft, which is currently the leader in terms of investments in R&D in the oil and gas sector in Russia. The amount of funding for research and development by companies without government participation is significantly lower. Comparison of Russian companies with foreign competitors indicates a significant lag. Only the volume of expenditures on R&D of Rosneft in 2013 reached the level of Halliburton, $ 0.41 billion and $ 0.59 billion, respectively (Fig. 1).
Indicators of return on investments in R&D of companies in the Russian and American oil and gas sector for the period 2007 - 2013. are shown in Fig. 2. The highest average value of the indicator for the period under review belongs to ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron also demonstrate a fairly high return on investment in R&D for the industry. The decrease in Rosneft's indicator is explained by the active increase in the volume of investment in R&D in 2011-2014, the effect of which is manifested with a certain lag.
The state budget today is the largest source of funding for Russian sectoral R&D, accounting for 60% of the total structure of funding for scientific organizations in the state and business sectors.
Russia.
2. Relatively low innovation activity of Russian oil and gas companies. This feature is largely due to the disinterest of companies in increasing R&D expenditures, despite the completely opposite global trend - increasing investments in scientific research by oil and gas companies, as well as a greater interest in obtaining rapid technological development by purchasing technologies from their foreign competitors than in the long-term development of their own. innovative potential. Note that Russian oil and gas companies show a significant increase in the number of filed patent applications, but against the background of the performance of companies in the US oil and gas sector, the Russian business sector illustrates a serious lag (Fig. 3).
3. Relative limitedness and one-sidedness of relations between the subjects of the NIS of Russia, in particular, in the oil and gas sector. In 2012, the share of funds from Russian organizations in the business sector in the structure of funding for sectoral scientific organizations amounted to 25.1%, an increase of 2.3% compared to 2011. On average, organizations in the oil and gas sector outsource to sectoral research institutes only 2% of the annual volume of R&D (according to 2010-2013 data), preferring to carry out research in internal corporate scientific structures to a greater extent. It is necessary to highlight the stable vertical connection between the sectors of the state and science. The interaction between them is mainly realized through budgetary financing of sectoral research institutes. The state budget today is the largest source of funding for Russian sectoral R&D, accounting for 60% of the total structure of funding for scientific organizations in the state and business sectors of Russia. Forms of vertical communication between the scientific and business sectors and in the oil and gas industry are R&D, as well as training and education of employees of oil and gas companies. In general, for the period under review, 2007 - 2013, according to the data of oil and gas companies, there was an increase in the number of corporate scholarships for students and grants for young teachers (Fig. 4).
Horizontal ties between Russian oil and gas companies are limited due to the greater focus of companies towards the development of internal corporate innovation infrastructure than towards external research projects with competing companies.
The most promising elements of the innovative structure of the oil and gas sector in Russia are the branch technological platforms (TP) "Deep processing of hydrocarbon resources" and "Technologies for the production and use of hydrocarbons."
4. The prevalence of "technology adapters" over "strategic innovators" among Russian oil and gas companies. Russian oil and gas companies prefer to acquire new technology and equipment from foreign competitors, and their innovative activities are mainly aimed at adapting innovations created by other organizations. Over the past 10 years, the science intensity of the products of Russian oil and gas companies has grown, on average in the industry, by 0.06%, amounting to 0.12%. However, according to this indicator, they significantly lag behind the level of similar European (0.40%) and American corporations (0.60%). 5. Increase in the volume of R&D outsourcing. Companies in the Russian oil and gas sector are gradually switching to contract research by external performers, mainly partner universities. This trend characterizes the presence of possible prerequisites for the development of open innovation in the oil and gas industry of Russia and an increase in cooperation between the scientific and business sectors of the national innovation system of Russia.
Russian oil and gas companies prefer to acquire new technology and equipment from foreign competitors, and their innovative activities are mainly aimed at adapting innovations created by other organizations.
To identify the role of individual entities in the development of the country's NIS as a whole, the authors carried out an econometric analysis for the period 2001 - 2012. based on World Bank data. The results of evaluating the regression model are presented in table.
Based on the results of an econometric analysis of the impact of the level of innovativeness of NIS subjects on the level of development of the innovation system, it can be stated that the most significant indicators for the econometric model of NIS Russia are R&D expenditures of the business sector, as well as patent applications of the oil and gas industry, which directly affect the resulting indicator in all proposed models for NIS Russia. The results of the analysis confirm the significant role of the oil and gas industry in the innovative development of the national economy.
The innovative development of oil and gas companies as NIS subjects of Russia is largely slowing down due to the relative underdevelopment of the system of interconnections between NIS subjects, which is largely determined by the state of the country's innovation infrastructure. For the development of the innovation infrastructure in general, it is necessary to form network forms of organizing innovation activities in all spheres of the economy, including the oil and gas complex.
Development at the state level, taking into account foreign practice, a number of price indicators and coefficients (to assess the complexity of orders of state corporations for R&D to small innovative enterprises) can contribute to the improvement of the network structures of research activities in the oil and gas industry of Russia. In the future, this will help create more favorable conditions for small businesses to conclude contracts with oil and gas corporations (with predominant state participation). The most promising elements of the innovative structure of the oil and gas sector in Russia are the branch technological platforms (TP) "Deep processing of hydrocarbon resources" and "Technologies for the production and use of hydrocarbons." In this regard, in order to solve the problems of the functioning of sectoral TP, it is necessary, first of all, to change the composition of platform participants by attracting financial and credit organizations and state development institutions to the list of TP participants; creation of international partnerships based on TP by increasing the number of foreign participants in the TP structure; as well as involvement in the process of formation and functioning of platforms of ministries and departments responsible for the strategic development of the relevant sectors of the economy; building a chain for the development of legislative initiatives from the platform.
Literature
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For more than 150 years of the history of the oil and gas industry, its movement forward was ensured by access to resources through innovation and new technologies. Technological development has changed the ways and methods of finding resources, opened access to the development of shelf deposits, shale deposits, increased the efficiency and safety of the implementation of oil and gas production projects. New projects on the deep sea shelf prove how new technologies are changing the production map and provide access to resources that could not have been imagined several decades ago.
In economically developed countries (USA, Canada, Japan and EU countries), the fuel and energy complex is a sector of the national economy, the share of state participation in the management of which is significant. The most important means of implementing energy policy is the state scientific and technical policy in the field of energy.
Foreign oil and gas companies pay great attention to scientific and technological development. The companies have their own large research centers and laboratories, design and engineering organizations. In addition to their own programs, companies finance joint research with other companies with the involvement of laboratories of higher educational institutions and government agencies.
In the field of exploration and development of oil and gas fields, research divisions of the companies carry out work on modeling fields and characteristics of productive formations used for planning oil production volumes with approbation in the fields. The main efforts are aimed at improving drilling technologies, which will significantly reduce the cost of well construction while reducing the harmful impact on the environment, as well as improving secondary methods of hydrocarbon recovery.
In the field of oil and gas processing, research is aimed at improving the quality of the main types of oil products. In manufacturing, efforts are focused on developing more economical catalysts and process improvements, as well as developing new processes that improve product quality. In order to select promising territories for prospecting and exploration, new analytical and predictive methods for assessing prospects are being developed. In search of alternative energy sources, research is underway with the aim of mastering the technology for the production of liquid synthetic fuel.
The result of these scientific developments will be gas conversion technology that will address global energy needs by creating commercial markets located in remote locations and inaccessible to conventional transportation. Accordingly, this will lead to the abandonment of the construction of expensive main gas pipelines and powerful compressor stations, which will lead to lower costs.
Among the priority developments of foreign companies is research that will help reduce the harmful effects of production on the environment and improve labor safety. The priority for oil companies are developments that have potential economic efficiency.
As the experience of foreign countries shows, the oil and gas industry is one of the most high-tech industries in the world. In recent years, a commitment to innovation has been a general trend in the development of the global oil and gas industry. The experience of the USA, Canada, Australia and Norway shows that the oil and gas sector of the economy is a powerful “generator” of demand for science-intensive and high-tech products.
There are circumstances under the influence of which the importance of the development of new methods for the introduction of new technologies in the sector of activities related to the extraction and use of oil and gas resources is increasing in the world.
Firstly, in a number of countries of the world (USA, Canada, Norway, Great Britain, etc.), oil and gas reserves are depleted, and it became necessary to develop deposits on the shelves of the seas and deep-water deposits.
Secondly, the emergence and development of alternative energy sources is increasing. Their range is expanding, but their widespread use is constrained by high costs, and this leads to low competitiveness in comparison with natural energy sources. However, these costs are constantly decreasing and therefore natural sources can be competitive only if the cost of their operation is low. In modern conditions, cost reduction is an improvement in the technology of production, transportation and processing.
Third, the instability of the world energy market.
Fourth, there is a tightening of the institutional framework for the development of the oil and gas sector, this is due to the growing value of property rights to resources. Since the owner of the resources is interested in receiving rental income.
These factors do not equally affect the development of the oil and gas sector in different countries; their effect is widespread and leads to increased competition between producers. In modern conditions, competitive advantages are obtained by those manufacturers who are constantly cutting costs. Sustainable cost reduction is ensured through continuous technology upgrades throughout the oil and gas resource chain.
An important tool for developed countries is to stimulate innovation through the tax system. There are three groups of tax instruments that stimulate innovation:
tax exemption for public and private organizations (VAT, property, land);
tax incentives to encourage companies to spend more on research and development;
tax breaks for early stage start-up companies.
Tax breaks from the first group do not provide a strong incentive for additional investment in R&D. Since if organizations are forced to pay all taxes stipulated by law, then the state must compensate for these costs by increasing the amount of funding.
The world oil business has come very close to the stage when the role of oil companies has come down to obtaining a license for the development or development of fields, providing financing and organizing all processes. The entire production part of exploration, development and development of deposits is performed by third-party service companies. This transformation is due to an increase in the technological complexity of a large number of heterogeneous operations in the exploration and operation of deposits.
Traditionally, the overall leadership in the innovative development of the industry belongs to large vertically integrated companies, the technological competence of service companies has significantly increased. The largest service companies, such as Halliburton, Shlumberger and Baker Huges, now have powerful state-of-the-art research facilities supported by the government, which allows them to carve a niche in the innovation market.
The history of the emergence of innovative economies shows different examples of the time frames that were required to launch, accelerate and sustain the introduction of new technologies. There are countries that systematically moved towards innovative development and those that made an innovative leap under the influence of state policy.
In Great Britain until the beginning of the 21st century, there was no purposeful policy to stimulate and introduce new technologies. In 2003, the government's strategy for technological development was published by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Technology Strategy Council was established in 2004, which invests in the creation of new technologies, supports their development and commercialization in the commodity sector and the exchange for new efficient technologies. State funding for research is carried out under a double support system. It is produced through a one-time subsidy and, in parallel, the Department of Innovation finances Research Councils, which in turn finance research in the country. Today, there are eight centers for innovation and technology in the UK.
In France, in 1999, the Law on Innovation and Scientific Research was passed, which was supposed to reorganize and modernize the innovation system. The implementation of this law in 2002 led to the adoption of a special innovation plan, the aim of which was to create a legal framework. Which, in turn, stimulated the development and implementation of new technologies in the mining and processing industry. More than 50% of government spending on R&D is provided by mining companies and processing companies of subsoil users.
The Spanish oil company Repsol has developed, with the support of the state, the State Strategy for the Transfer of High Technologies. It is administered by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. For the implementation of this strategy from the budget of the country from 2010 to the present, 6720 tons million euros are allocated annually.
In the Netherlands, in 2003, the Ministry of Economic Relations implemented the program “Path to innovation, introduction of new technologies in the extractive processing industry. This program was supposed to lead to an improvement in the innovation climate. Companies were stimulated through customs preferences, exemptions and tax cuts.
Ireland embarked on an innovative development path in 2007 with € 8.2 billion in funding for the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy. It is the state that plays the main role in the process of introducing new technologies into the processing sector. The main direction to stimulate the development of knowledge-intensive industries is the allocation of grants for R&D, reduction of tax rates.
In Denmark, an important part of the innovation system is the GTS (Godkendt Teknologisk Service - Approved Technology Service Provider to the extractive sector), which act as a bridge between public and private actors. GTS is a privately held, independent consulting company that develops and markets applied knowledge and technology services. GTS was created by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
In Germany, the first venture capital funds appeared in the 1970s and were aimed at developing innovative companies in the extractive and processing sectors. Public-private partnership programs are being implemented in research activities. And if in the 70s the share of budgetary finance was 70% in R&D expenditures, today it is 30%. The legislative base of the innovation system is formed in such a way that legal acts are conditionally divided into three groups:
belong to educational institutions;
to research organizations;
to the subsoil use sector.
In Finland, the state fund Sitra has become the main investor in innovation for the oil and gas sector since the 2000s. A huge influence is paid to the development of technoparks.
In Norway, the state co-finances R&D of raw materials companies. The main goal is to create a scientific environment on a global scale and accumulate knowledge in the field of oil production. R&D development is encouraged by a tax deduction system for R&D expenditures. At the same time, high taxes on oil production stimulate oil and gas companies to develop new technologies that will reduce the cost of production and increase the degree of oil production from reservoirs. The main direction of the innovation policy is to involve enterprises in the extractive and processing sector in research.
Japan, not having its own raw material base, followed the vector of high technology development. In 1999, a law was passed on the export of technology in exchange for raw materials for Japan. In Sweden, in 2005-2008 alone, five priority areas for R&D funding were identified: biotechnology, sustainable development, energy conservation, environment and medicine. High-tech centers represent a combination of research and development and commercial forces for the effective commercialization of new technologies.
The US innovation policy dates back to the 1990s; it is most clearly expressed in the priorities identified by B. Clinton in his report to the Congress "Science and Technology in the Extractive Sector: Shaping the 21st Century." A feature of the development of the American innovation sphere is the emergence of institutions of the innovation sphere independent of federal government bodies: technology parks and venture funds.
The oil and gas industry is a sector where process innovation has a huge impact not only on the end results of individual companies, but also on the state of the national economy as a whole. It is clear that over the past decade, the oil and gas industry has demonstrated a number of astounding achievements around the world. For most of the largest oil and gas companies, innovation is a critical part of the corporate culture and mission of the company, and companies reap significant benefits from their innovation activities.
The most pressing innovation challenges for oil and gas companies are developing the right technology strategy and the right operating model, choosing the right business partners, and using the right set of performance metrics to gauge the company's progress towards innovation.
Leadership in innovation is an important factor in the economic growth of companies. Oil and gas companies are consistently and purposefully working to bring their production capabilities to the next level. Technological innovations make it possible to extract from the depths of such types of fuel, the extraction of which was impossible 10-20 years ago. It is envisaged to use a "well pad" for drilling multiple wells in one area, this will increase productivity, while eliminating the need to expand the geographical presence of companies in the sector in remote regions. According to some estimates, in just the past six years, the productivity of an average oil and gas well in North America has quadrupled. This is in line with the results of studies in many fields carried out over several decades. It is obvious that oil and gas companies are already correctly building their work in many areas.
Let's take the production of biofuel from algae as an example. Research in this direction has been going on for many years. A pilot project is currently underway in Canada as part of the Canada Oil Sands Developers' Innovation Alliance (COSIA) program. The project foresees that the biofuel refinery will grow algae using waste heat and by-products from the drilling process. Extraction of oil from oil sands and gas from shale was considered too difficult or expensive in the recent past, and today the development of such resources is rapidly changing the situation in the North American market.
The increase in shale gas production is a well-known fact, but it is far from the only example of changes in the industry. In recent years, there has also been a steady increase in the oil recovery factor. The Permian Oil and Gas Basin is a 250 by 300 mile area in the United States that encompasses western Texac and eastern New Mexico. Oil production began there as early as 1921. A decade ago, oil production from wells in the area was discontinued, but the introduction of new drilling methods (in particular, hydraulic fracturing, or "hydraulic fracturing") has led to a recovery in oil production over the past three years. This basin currently accounts for 14% of all US oil production.
However, hydraulic fracturing is by no means the only new drilling method that has an impact on recovery of production volumes. Innovative activity in the oil and gas sector is focused not only on increasing the production of raw materials. Another important area is ensuring the security of operational activities. This may include looking for new ways to monitor the mechanical integrity and technical condition of materials as environmental conditions change, or creating new systems for manufacturing control, maintenance and repair. As businesses in the industry increasingly operate in extreme environments, safety and health innovations are gaining momentum. Let's take deep sea drilling as an example. Anadarko's president compared deep sea drilling techniques to those used to land a man on the moon. And this is no exaggeration: some industry players are working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (USA), for example, to develop fiber optic sensor systems to improve the stability and safety of offshore drilling platforms.
Having a well-articulated innovation strategy sets the best companies apart from the rest. After analyzing interviews with the leaders of oil and gas companies operating at all levels of the value chain, including both small companies and very large market participants, which operate in the segment of exploration and production (including servicing oil fields) and in the segment of refining and distribution. About 4/5 of the respondents from the oil and gas sector noted the importance of innovation for their business. For 39% of senior executives in oil and gas companies, innovation has already become a prerequisite for maintaining competitiveness. If we look at this issue in a five-year perspective, this figure rises to 48%, which suggests that innovation is extremely important for every segment of the oil and gas industry. However, only about half of the respondents from the same oil and gas companies noted that their companies have a clearly formulated innovation strategy, which they are implementing in their practice.
This is a serious problem for those companies where there is no clear concept of innovative development, since the practical solution of development and growth problems begins with the formation of a sound and well-thought-out strategy.
All divisions of the company, without exception, should deal with issues of innovative development, and not only the R&D division. For companies engaged in exploration and production, R&D in the field of new technologies, business systems and processes is of absolute relevance, and for companies engaged in refining and distribution, new developments in the field of products and services. However, it is important not to lose sight of business opportunities for growth in areas such as business models and supply chain. Fewer than half of oil and gas CEOs said they have a well-articulated innovation strategy (compared to 79% of innovation leaders across industries). Oil and gas CEOs see innovation as vital to their future success.
One of the key growth factors is the constant focus of companies on ensuring a balanced innovation portfolio. Balance is the optimal combination of investments in the development of phased, breakthrough and radical solutions in all areas of innovation. The optimal mix of investments for oil and gas companies will depend on where they are in the value chain.
The focus of the companies is on highly qualified specialists and corporate culture. Representatives of almost all companies consider some aspects of the innovation process to be quite complex. Among the most serious challenges are the following factors: assessment and measurement of the success of innovative projects, the availability of highly qualified specialists, as well as the search and selection of optimal partners.
In search of today's and tomorrow's innovators, top managers of oil and gas companies note that the lack of highly qualified personnel is a certain problem for the innovative development of the company. One of the aspects of this issue in today's conditions is the search for highly qualified specialists-innovators and attracting them to the company.
Oil and gas executives plan to develop cooperation with a wide range of business partners. The degree of interaction of these specialists with specialists from other companies is also of great importance. Firms leading innovation development are much more likely to use a collaborative strategy than firms least innovation-oriented, a trend that has been observed across all sectors. In the oil and gas sector, the relevance of cooperation with other organizations and companies is especially high due to the high costs and long periods of preparation and implementation of projects aimed at technological improvement of processes in the oil and gas industry.
Joint projects with the participation of large and largest oil and gas companies, oilfield service companies, as well as strategic partners, suppliers and research units of universities today are not an exception to practice, but the norm. And such cooperation is now widely spread across the global market. Consider, for example, the activities of the Italian company Eni. The company has entered into partnership agreements with a number of Italian universities and the country's National Research Council. She also works with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The companies plan to establish partnerships with a wide range of organizations over the next three years, including strategic partners, suppliers, academic institutions and even rival companies, although those planning to develop partnerships with competitors are still in the minority. Partnering with organizations from other industries can provide tremendous benefits. For example, magnetic resonance imaging techniques, originally developed for medical purposes, are widely used in the industry today. With the help of these methods, it became possible to determine the volume of oil in the rock. Moreover, Shell today is collaborating with one of the Hollywood film companies involved in the production of animated films about Shrek. Shell management hopes this collaboration will improve the visualization of seismological data.
Several companies are now starting to develop their own corporate processes to drive innovation. The most famous example of this is Shell's GameChanger. The program includes elements of methods such as open innovation, business incubator and corporate venture projects. In addition, Statoil has created an Internet portal dedicated to innovation. The portal plays a leading role in highlighting the problems and challenges of innovation. In addition, this is where you can offer your new ideas in free form. To help potential contributors to this topic, the company created a discussion group on the social networking site LinkedIn, which helped to improve the quality and increase in the number of incoming proposals.
Ashok Belani, executive vice president of technology at Schlumberger, believes software platforms are an area where the open innovation model in the oil and gas sector is already being implemented. He noted: “For example, when we transfer the Petrel platform to Shell or Petrobras, our software is designed not only to provide the necessary functionality and user-friendly interface, but, more importantly, to make it compatible with their own systems by opening new spaces for the oil and gas industry.
To address some of the technical challenges involved in maintaining deep water drilling sites, Total is joining forces with French robotics engineering firm Cybernetix to develop a new production control, maintenance and repair system called SWIMMER. The system is designed to monitor the progress of underwater operations and maintain facilities using remotely controlled underwater vehicles capable of operating in a minimal spatial environment. The SWIMMER system will be able to remain submerged for three months and operate within a radius of 50 km.
Oil services company Schlumberger has partnered with Saint-Gobain for crystallography and Lockheed Martin for state-of-the-art computer science. And these are just two examples from a wide range of business partners of the said company. The Houston, Texas-based Petroleum Technology Innovation Center, a customer service provider for petrochemical companies, is profiling technologies developed in other industries for use in the petrochemical industry. The most relevant technologies fall into the following categories:
- - insulating coatings and materials;
- - communications and energy production;
- - filtration and working fluids;
- - labor protection, industrial safety and environmental protection (HSE and EP);
- - production control and monitoring;
- - traffic control;
- - security;
- - sensory devices;
- - software.
The Brazilian government is providing billions of dollars in funding to promote research and development that will provide an opportunity to stimulate offshore exploration. The Brazilian authorities expect to create a developed oilfield services industry in the country. At the same time, the leading role in this direction is assigned to the state oil company Petrobras. The company has already established a research center, which is attended by experts from Baker Hughes, Schlumberger and Halliburton.
In oil and gas companies, the open innovation model is the approach with the greatest potential in terms of increasing revenue. The Canadian Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) is an excellent example of oil companies joining forces to address the challenges of reducing the negative environmental impact of operations. COSIA was founded in March 2012 and today it includes 14 companies. Companies involved in COSIA identify and develop innovative approaches and best practices to improve environmental performance in oil sands production, and exchange ideas and information on these approaches, with a focus on waste management, land management, water resources management and mitigation. greenhouse gas emissions. According to COSIA, to date, members of this organization have exchanged information on 446 unique technological and innovative solutions, the development of which cost over $ 700 million.
Another important trend in the oil and gas sector is the development of corporate venture projects. Chevron, BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips and other companies have specialized divisions dealing with corporate venture projects. Investing in small startups is another way that companies in the sector hedge their investments and expand access to a wide range of technologies across industries. In addition, for some companies, this approach allows them to maintain a balance of their innovation portfolio. Shell's acclaimed GameChanger software integrates elements from all three of the above innovation models.
The program appeared in the mid-90s, during the recession in the oil and gas sector. While companies in the industry were faced with an urgent need to reduce costs, including R&D costs, Shell management understood how important it was not to lose the ideas that would drive business growth in the long term. GameChanger has been designed in the style of the ecosystem created in Silicon Valley. The program included peer evaluation and early development experiments as part of the process. As part of the GameChanger program, Shell began building partnerships with universities in the United States and Western Europe in 2002.
Shell executives began an active search for new ideas, not waiting for the developers of innovative solutions to come up with them themselves. Measures taken included expanding partnerships with venture capital firms, holding conferences and special events to ensure broader contacts with small and medium-sized businesses. Shortly thereafter, management began organizing "domains" to make the process more structured. The information field of such domains was wide enough to provide coverage of various aspects.
This allowed the company to strengthen the relationship between the bottom-up ideas from the GameChanger program and the strategic plans of the firm's management, which were communicated to employees through the top-down communication channels. Since 1996, this program has invested over US $ 250 million in more than 3,000 new ideas, 300 of which have been commercialized projects that are helping Shell today deliver more energy products to its customers. One of GameChanger's technology solutions, a swellable rubber O-ring, delivered 1.5 million barrels of enhanced oil recovery over three years. In its current form, GameChanger is managed through a central team that spans the entire business of the company. New ideas come in through the company's web platform or internal communication channels, and a curator is assigned to work with each of them. The members of the GameChanger central group review the proposed ideas and decide whether or not they should be formalized as a formal proposal for further development. In the next phase, the proposal goes to an expanded committee, which includes three members of the central GameChanger team and three technical experts in their respective fields. They evaluate the proposal and immediately decide on the next steps. If so, the next step is to include the proposal in a pilot proof-of-concept funding program that periodically evaluates the proposed idea. Once the practical development of an idea begins, GameChanger will also help ensure the commercialization of the idea. Corporate venture projects are carried out not only by international oil companies. This area is also represented at the level of national oil companies such as Eni SpA, SaudiAramco and Statoil.
The true measure of innovation success cannot be viewed solely through the lens of financial performance. Leading companies go far beyond the traditional measure of return on investment in identifying indicators of success for innovative solutions. One of the standard indicators for oil and gas companies is the monitoring of existing licenses. Other qualitative approaches can also be very helpful. Shell's VP of Technology Strategy believes that the true measure of success is the company's ability to attract the best business partners. The Italian company Eni has developed a comprehensive approach to assessing the effectiveness of its R&D program.
Different business units focus on different types of innovation, and this is reflected in the system of key performance indicators. The indicators adopted in the company are divided into four categories: value (benefit) for the company (both tangible and intangible), efficiency and effectiveness of the portfolio, efficiency and effectiveness of projects, and consistency with the company's strategy. One example of material benefit is capital cost savings. This metric quantifies the amount of capital cost savings achieved by using innovative technology instead of the best available traditional alternative technology. Intangible (non-financial) performance indicators include the number of patents and publications, as well as the number of unique developments (know-how) transferred to other business units of the company. As innovation portfolios diversify, the benchmarks for disruptive and truly radical innovation must change to adequately reflect the new processes and the benefits they provide to companies.
Technological innovation has a huge impact on all aspects and links of the supply chain. Technological advances, from 3D and 4D seismological surveys to improvements in fractional distillation and isomerization, gas liquefaction and regasification technologies, have a huge impact on the exploration, drilling, production, refining and marketing of oil and gas. In the future, scientific and technological progress will gain momentum. Companies in the fuel and energy complex are already considering the prospects for the use of nanotechnology, biotechnology and environmentally friendly solutions in the field of chemistry.
Companies leading in the field of innovative development will gain great competitive advantages. Innovative development in the oil and gas sector requires careful planning and a well-articulated strategy. Oil and gas companies lag behind the innovation leaders in terms of having a clear and clear innovation strategy.
Do not limit innovation to R&D. Investments in R&D are an important part of the innovation process, but they by no means reflect the entire content of this activity. Oil and gas companies are leaders in fundamentally improving processes and systems, but they need to apply innovative approaches and solutions in areas such as developing business models and product offerings, improving customer service (in terms of refining and distribution segments) and improving the supply chain.
The focus is on people. Correct selection of business partners from various industries and cooperation with them. Finding and selecting reliable business partners from other industries is a daunting task for many companies. But solving it is extremely important, especially in light of the well-established reputation of the oil and gas industry as a “technology integrator”. Drilling a well to a depth of more than two and a half kilometers on the ocean shelf requires the same sophisticated technologies as launching a spacecraft with a man on board. Joint projects with the participation of large and largest oil and gas companies, oilfield service companies, as well as strategic partners, suppliers and research units of universities today are not an exception to practice, but the norm. Often, these projects are part of open innovation initiatives, but there has also been a resurgence of interest in corporate venture capital projects.
Careful assessment and measurement of the degree of success. This provision means developing correct and adequate KPIs for different types of innovations and different business units. While assessing innovation in terms of financial performance is an important component of a KPI framework, non-financial performance is equally important.
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