Oil and gas is intrinsic to industry 4.0, says Adnoc CEO

Adnoc is absorbing, embedding and applying cutting edge technology at every step of the production process from oil platforms to trading platforms, said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of ADNOC Group.

‘’In short, as we enter a new age of technology, the world remains reliant on a 160-year-old industry, whose core mission is to responsibly and efficiently stay ahead of tomorrow’s energy demand. At Adnoc, we call this mission “Oil and Gas 4.0.” “Oil and Gas 4.0” means rethinking how our industry adopts and applies technology, connects with non-traditional partners, shows environmental leadership and most importantly attracts and retains talent,’’ Dr Al Jaber adds in an article published by ‘’The Telegraph’’.

He affirms that oil and gas will remain essential to the global energy mix and the basis for a wide range of modern consumer products.

Following is the full article: ‘’As we enter the Fourth Industrial Age, it is clear that this is an era defined by a transformation, not just of technology, but of opportunity. Never before in human history are so many people being raised out of poverty in such a short amount of time. For the first time in history, half the world’s population is now middle class and by 2030 their number will swell to 5.6 billion- two-thirds of the global population. While just over half of humanity lives in a city today, that proportion will climb to almost 70 per cent in the next thirty years. That’s 2.5 billion people moving to urban areas, mostly in Asia and Africa. These migrations from non-consumer to consumer and from rural to urban, will drive a growing demand for energy that no single source can meet. Oil and Gas will remain essential to the global energy mix and the basis for a wide range of modern consumer products.

 In short, as we enter a new age of technology, the world remains reliant on a 160-year-old industry, whose core mission is to responsibly and efficiently stay ahead of tomorrow’s energy demand.

At Adnoc, we call this mission “Oil and Gas 4.0.” “Oil and Gas 4.0” means rethinking how our industry adopts and applies technology, connects with non-traditional partners, shows environmental leadership and most importantly attracts and retains talent.

 Earlier this year, we published our Workforce of The Future survey, which looked at the views of young STEM talent around the world regarding future careers. The key finding revealed that the more STEM youth associate a workplace with technological innovation, the more attractive that workplace is. In many countries, oil and gas lacks that association, but this is a problem of perception, not reality. Since the first oil well was drilled in 1859, the oil and gas industry has been at the forefront of innovation. From deep sea drilling to a depth of more than 30,000 feet, to the development of complex polymers that create lightweight composites for more fuel efficient vehicles, the oil and gas industry has been an inventive force of transformational discovery. In 2019, we are still making breakthroughs, but we are failing to tell our own innovation story in an exciting and compelling way - and that should be a priority because the biggest risk to our industry is not competition from other energy sources, but competition for talent.

The fact is, the modern oil company is absorbing, embedding and applying cutting edge technology at every step of the production process. At Adnoc, for example, we fully embrace technology from oil platforms to trading platforms. We are rolling out the use of predictive analytics to reduce maintenance costs by up to 20 per cent, a significant boost to our bottom line. Our state of the art Panorama digital command centre uses artificial intelligence and big data in order to empower our people to make better, quicker, market driven decisions. We are scaling up the application of carbon, capture, utilization and storage technology to expand the first and largest CCUS plant in the Middle East Region, significantly reducing carbon emissions. And we are pioneering the use of optical imagery and drone technology to monitor environmental risks, using some 10,000 cameras, many with infra-red capability, across our operations to help build a fuller picture of our fugitive emissions and maintain our zero flaring policy.

 By relentlessly pursuing innovation at every level, we aim to demonstrate to the next generation of STEM students that our industry is focused on the future, not anchored in the past. In so doing, we are making Adnoc a destination of choice and an incubator of talent that will build long term resilience into our company and ensure we continue to provide for growing global energy needs. Ultimately, our goal is to expand our positive impact on the UAE’s economy, while delivering lasting value for our country, our partners and the wider world.’’

WAM