Digital Innovations in Oil and Gas with Geoffrey Cann

If you're working on a digital innovation when your oil and gas company has been acquired , you're at risk, and you need a plan. I once worked on a major merger to create Canada's largest oil company, and I know how these mergers go down, and you don't want to be a victim.  In this solo narration podcast I describe why mergers are happening now and why they'll continue, how to tell if you're at ri...

Digital twin solutions are rapidly advancing to a point where the model will be running tightly coupled with the actual asset it models, using live data. It's not a stretch to see how the digital twin can become the day-to-day supervisor of the actual asset. This kind of work even applies to brownfield assets that predate the internet, mobility, cloud computing, and other modern inventions. Connec...

Every year at this time I put forth my outlook for the coming year, with a focus on the digital trends that I believe will have the greatest impact on the fortunes of the industry. These are not so much as predictions, as they are speculations on the trends that I see marching along, and how those trend lines will play out over the next 12 months or so. If you're working in industry, you might kee...

"First thing you need to connect the assets first and get the data. So that's we call it like static digital twin, and then you can use it for simulation. Then you move to the second version, which having like a shadow, digital twin, which you have an image of what's happening, but you can monitor. But the truly digital twin is monitor and control." In this episode, I'm in conversation with Ammar...

To break free of the limitations of yesterday's technologies, the oil and gas industry is accelerating its adoption of private 5G networks. Some time ago, I helped an  oil field logistics company  respond to customer feedback that its services were "in the  Stone Age ". Its systems were entirely  manual , inaccurate, slow, and  error  prone. Virtually every invoice was  disputed , causing cash flo...

"We really kind of focus on the data and analytics side, really helping identify challenges where innovative data solutions, machine learning and AI technologies can be leveraged to drive more data driven insights." In this episode, I'm in conversation with Clark Lai, the CEO of Motiv Innovation Group. Clark's team helps businesses apply data analytics, machine learning and AI tools to some of the...

"There's been a real reluctance on the part of operators to jump back in to some of these higher-cost opportunities. That's further constraining  exploration and development of supply." In this episode, I'm in conversation with Howard Crosby, the Founder and CEO of LGX Energy Corporation. Howard and a partner acquired an oil company in Indiana and the acquisition included some 400 miles of 2D seis...

Halloween. A gory and ghastly night of ghouls, ghosts, and goblins. And as with previous  years  marking All Souls, I reflect on the latest digital demons molesting the oil and gas industry, how best to exorcise them, and how to speedily return them to the land of the undead. When you open the front door to this season's mob of treat-hunting ghouls, just remember that your work world is not only f...

A pioneering application of artificial intelligence at  Woodside Energy  is finally ready for wider deployment in oil and gas.    I learned about this use case back in 2016, at APPEA's  annual conference  in Perth, where Woodside's data science team presented their work. Surprisingly, few companies bothered to replicate this innovation, even though it was both proven and easy to execute. Many oil...

"Aviation fuel because it is a big amount of emissions, roughly 2% in actual measurement, but about three and a half percent in terms of impact. It's not likely to change because you need high density fuels, so batteries aren't going to work for long haul flights. And 90% of aviation is long haul flights." In this episode, I'm in conversation with John McDougall, who is the CEO and founder of SynB...

If you want to be a successful digital leader, you need to be able to sell your ideas to a reluctant oil and gas buyer.  Selling is so innately human we don't even know when we're selling or being sold. Have you ever been to a restaurant and found yourself ordering something you would usually not ever have at home, like some decadent dessert? The end of the main meal arrives and the server kindly...

"Turnover and mergers are one of the biggest disruptions in companies. So when you have that factored in, if you have someone who leaves the company, then everything that they've ever done, that human brain of knowledge as well and experience within that company is gone." In this episode, I'm in conversation with Wendy Hamelin, the CEO of Astraea Energy, an advisory firm in the area of high perfor...

"Those who are working in any energy sector right now are best place to be working in that sector in another 10 years, even if it's going to be on a different technology." In this episode, I'm in conversation with Corinna Frye, who is the National Head of Renewable Energy and Clean Technology, with LVI Associates. As a recruiter focused on the energy industry, Corinna has seen first hand the deman...

Canada's largest private oil company, and operator of the largest oil refinery, is carrying out a  strategic review , which includes the possible sale of the company. Why would they do this? I grew up in Saint John, and had the privilege to work at this company for a few years. My extended family members who still live and work in the area, have reached out to me for a perspective. They are natura...

In case you missed it,  WPC24 took place recently in Calgary, Alberta, for the second time in its history. WPC itself was established way back in the 1930s as a forum for the global industry to discuss common themes on a triennial basis. As a global event, it attracts an audience from around the planet.. The voices discussing the global energy industry's challenges included the Energy  Minister fr...

Markets are starting to show interest in commodity products that are produced more responsibly, notably natural gas. The key is to be able to prove it, and that requires some changes. Customers and markets are starting to demand evidence that energy products such as natural gas are making a positive contribution to buyers' emission reduction goals. Responsibly sourced gas will experience demand gr...

Companies working in the energy sector are now prosecuting their own self-defined pathways to achieve carbon zero or carbon neutral business profiles. Digital innovations play a key role. As part of the  World Petroleum Congress , September 17-21, 2023 in Calgary, I was on a panel discussion to discuss digital transformation on the route to Net Zero. By now, hopefully, all energy companies will ha...

The energy worker of the future will require a different set of personal attributes than those normally selected for today. Energy companies may well find these attributes in short supply. One of my more interesting roles is the occasional advisory work for educational institutions on the skills requirements for the energy worker of the future. Since I research and write about energy topics, inclu...

"Emissions combine all of the activities a company has. It's the tailpipe of the company, but it entails all of the activities that company undertakes." In this episode, I'm in conversation with Oleksiy Golovchenko who is a Senior specialist, EHS Data and Analytics with Ovintiv, a large North American oil and gas producer. Oleksiy has been part of a team delivering a real time emissions inventory...

For all the talk about energy transition, many aspects about transition remain unexplained. I'm in the midst of a home renovation. The renovation should allow the house last another 20-30 years with minimal upkeep, and may well be our final home as we embrace the ideal to age-in-place. The renovations are extensive—walls are being opened up for the first time in 30 years, the flooring is being upg...

"I'm also a very strong advocate personally of a sort of an all in approach, meaning we aren't going to solve this with one magic silver bullet, right? If that doesn't exist, we need to develop these things over time." This is part two of a two part podcast recording with Tom Sharp, the Director of Permitting Intelligence with Arbo, and Justin Carlson, founder and Chief Commercial Officer of East...

"There's a lot of different things that are plaguing infrastructure developers or have been for a long time, and they're all sort of coming to a head now." This is part one of a two part podcast recording with  Tom Sharp, the Director of Permitting Intelligence with Arbo, and Justin Carlson, founder and Chief Commercial Officer of East Daley Analytics on the issues and challenges facing  energy in...

"We're creating a significant drawdown on the reservoir so we're able to get every last molecule of what's unrecoverable today that sits in the reservoir." In this episode, I'm in conversation with Herman Artinian who is the CEO of Upwing Energy, a company that has developed a compressor for downhole gas wells. One problem with gas wells is that they depressurize as they produce, which results in...

If there is one industry that evolves very slowly, it would have to be the liquefied natural gas industry, and yet, digital is even making an impact here. As a digital nerd, I was alert to any digital developments at  LNG 2023 , but I was also curious what I had written back in 2016. At the time my weekly article series was called  Fuel Up LNG , and chronicled Australia's staggering rise from a ga...

My first exposure to the circular economy did not inspire confidence. My Mom, my brother and I were in the attic of my uncle's home rummaging through an old trunk overloaded with castoff clothing that my cousins had outgrown. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but we were clearly poor, and with 6 kids, there simply wasn't enough money to buy new clothes. One of our most hideous family photos has...