Digital oilfield market to grow to $5.4 billion by 2028

A new report from research consultancy Future Market Insights (FMI) projects the digital oilfield solutions market to grow at a health CAGR of 6.3%, reaching $5.4 billion in 2028. Digital IoT-powered monitoring systems and automation software are expected to be adopted by firms as they seek to drive efficiency and profitability in their firms amid resurgent oil prices.

Like many other industries, oil and gas is looking to make its operations more efficient through the leveraging of digital technology. Oilfields and refineries require a high degree of supervision and monitoring in order to optimize output rate, find and neutralize errors, avoid spills and losses, track inventory levels, and prevent theft through the supply chain.

Digital oilfield solutions have been emerging over the past two decades as an attractive option to heighten accuracy in measurement, make operations easier in remote areas, and decrease the overall lead time of operations. The digital solutions market for oilfield includes digitally operating measuring instruments, automation and software systems, and services related to hardware components and automation systems.

Some of the key benefits include access to real time data, ease of data integration and analysis, minimal physical size, sound shelf life, and ease of installation and functioning in remote areas. Firms can maximize oilfield recovery while increasing profitability with the use of digital systems – including integrated workflows that combine process management with advanced IT, streamlining and automating tasks performed by numerous teams.A report from research consultancy Future Market Insights projects the high value digital oilfield market to grow at a healthy rate over the next decade. The report projects a compound annual growth rate of 6.3% through to 2028, reaching a market size of $5.4 billion.

According to FMI, the Middle East and Africa region is expected to dominate the digital solutions market, with many oil and gas firms looking to adopt the solutions in new installations and expansions. The report, however, identifies the US as the region with ‘maximum opportunities’ for investment.

Meanwhile, expanding telco network capabilities are helping drive digital oilfield solutions. The first Offshore LTE network is enabling the operations and maintenance efficiencies of digital solutions in the Norwegian North Sea. Meanwhile, the coming rollout of advanced 5G networks will help power the emerging market of connected devices across the Internet of Things – including onshore oilfield IoT solutions.

FMI expects partnerships between IT providers and oil and gas players to proliferate in the near term. Haliburton and Microsoft, for example, are collaborating on intelligent cloud solutions in the industry. Tech players are already providing end-to-end products to the oil industry, with integrated automation and AI, in order to build ‘smart’ oil fields.

However, the trade-off of improved efficiency from digital solutions is, as always, the heightened threat of cyber-breaches. The stakes are high in the oil and gas industry, on which many countries base their economies. “Any threat to the oil and gas companies will have a direct impact on the economy and security of a country,” commented an analyst from FMI. “This is an important concern that IT service providers need to address to invite more oil and gas companies to adopt automation solutions.”