Platform
Solutions
Owners
Contractors
Engineering/EPCM
Professional Services
Resources
White Papers
Case Studies
Blog
Videos
Company
AboutStatistics show that more and more Oil and Gas contractors are moving forward and embracing better technology to streamline their businesses. Contractors in many industries have been a bit late to adopt software as a means to improve their profitability – but that is changing fast. This is partly due to the near-collapse in oil prices that haunted the industry over the past five years; which has recently been creeping up into the $60/bbl range to make things profitable again. During that period, companies had been searching for ways to remain profitable, and many turned to technology such as project cost management solutions to secure that profitability. This momentum is continuing, as companies aren’t prepared to take a risk on another fall in prices.
According to David Farr, chairman and CEO of Emerson, in his commentary on new technology, “Opportunities for applying technologies that bring down costs and boost productivity are still enormous, and innovation is expanding rapidly. The turnaround we have begun to see in some companies’ fortunes is only the tip of the iceberg. In part that’s because until just recently, the industry has been decidedly slow to adopt new digital technologies. That’s understandable, given the hefty profit margins companies reaped when oil surpassed $100 a barrel – peaking a decade ago this summer at more than $145.”
4castplus Giving Boost to Companies Across North America
Here at 4castplus, we’ve felt the trend with many mid-to-large contractors in Oil and Gas looking to us for ways to help lift both their profitability as well as their competitiveness. Take NGF Construction (out of Midland, Texas) who are true innovators in their field. They recognized that there must be a better way to manage the sheer volumes of data produced on a major construction project and implemented 4castplus to ensure that data is captured correctly from the jobsite and delivered in real-time to the project teams that need to analyze that data to make informed and timely decisions. Or RDE Group, who saw the need for improved efficiencies and a clear edge over the competition, so they too looked to 4castplus to let technology give them the lift to help them grow more aggressively.
Opportunities for Applying Technologies are Enormous
Part of the productivity gains in adopting technology is the effect of collaboration and elimination of silos between disciplines. Construction projects are complex – with many people working in different offices and geographies – so having a ‘system’ bring them all together reduces errors, misunderstandings and creates a much more efficient use of their time. This article from Deloitte reinforces this point as a key part of the digital transformation of Oil and Gas construction, “The next set of milestones can be achieved when a company breaks operational silos between disciplines, realizes hidden productivity gains, improves the usability of data, and identifies new areas of value creation.”
Additionally, “Companies that are willing to innovate and invest can unlock tremendous value and may remain financially strong regardless of what happens to global supply and demand trends,” Deloitte executive John England wrote in a 2018 Energy Outlook white paper. “Opportunities for applying technologies that bring down costs and boost productivity are still enormous, and innovation is expanding rapidly. The turnaround we have begun to see in some companies’ fortunes is only the tip of the iceberg.
In part that’s because until just recently, the industry has been decidedly slow to adopt new digital technologies. That’s understandable, given the hefty profit margins companies reaped when oil surpassed $100 a barrel – peaking a decade ago this summer at more than $145.”