(WAM) — With the global oil and gas industry looking for improved efficiencies in a post-COVID world, exhibitors at ADIPEC 2000 Virtual, the world’s largest online industry gathering, say automation will be the key driver of future remote hydrocarbon operations.

The forecast comes as the industry readies to probe how it can build for future business resilience through technology, innovation, and partnerships at the ADIPEC Virtual Strategic conference, which is a key component of the ADIPEC 2020 Virtual programme, which runs from November 9-12.

“The COVID-19 crisis forced oil and gas organisations as well as service companies to take measures to meet new market including cost reductions, optimisation of operations and digital transformation, which used to be looked at as futuristic prototypes. A good example is remote operations, which became popular during lockdowns all around the world,” said Fouad Mohammed Ali, Managing Partner of Kuwait’s Upstream Solutions, acknowledging that creative technology solutions are key to the sector’s fast-track recovery.

With the industry continuing to adapt to new operating procedures, expedited by the global pandemic, automating remote operations can help spur expansion across the supply chain and lead to more sustainable markets such as the geothermal drilling market.

“We expect to see more development in remote operation and automation technologies in the industry, this includes remote technical support and automated cloud-based technical support,” said Ashvqin Bayudewa, Business Operations Director at Axel, a drilling measurements start-up Axel, that aims to improve oil-drilling telemetry around the world through the use of cutting edge technologies.

With automation a core component of digital transformation now forecast to take hold on the global industry. Dr. Tariq Aslam, Head of MEA for global industry software leader AVEVA, classifies digital transformation as “the primary priority” for energy sector business leaders.

“Our industrial customers are increasingly adopting emerging technologies such as cloud, machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, AI, big data and analytics,” said Dr. Aslam. “It is critical now more than ever for customers to think creatively and utilise these innovative technologies to address the business challenges presented by this unprecedented uncertainty. In this regard, cloud and AI technologies offer transformative opportunities to empower oil and gas organizations to realise their business goals resourcefully in the virtual era.”

While the ongoing pandemic may have accelerated digital transformation, it has also opened more avenues for cross-sector collaboration to boost efficiency in operations and costs, according to industry leaders.

“We see a great advantage in strategic tie-ups and associations within the industry,” said Harsh Dave of Indian industrial oil field chemicals producer Shraddha Associates, Guj, Pvt. Ltd. “COVID-19 has made everyone sensitive and accepting towards companies working on supply chain excellence and project-based solutions. This acceptance will bring a lot of benefit and strengthen associations within the industry and stakeholders.”

The need for technology innovation also permeates the ADIPEC Virtual Technical Conference, running alongside the strategic platform. Organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and featuring more than 115 sessions, which can be watched live or on demand, the Technical Conference will be the single largest virtual meeting place for oil and gas engineers worldwide, providing unprecedented access to the latest industry knowledge, technical expertise, applications, products, solutions and services.

ADIPEC 2020 Virtual Technical & Strategic Conferences, which are being held under the patronage of the UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, have evolved into the oil and gas industry’s single largest technical and knowledge-sharing platforms for global industry decision makers and sector engineers and are expected to attract more than 2,000 delegates. The combined events will feature over 135 live and on-demand sessions and are attracting a powerful line-up of over 1,000 speakers including some of the world’s most renowned industry leaders to deliver over 100 hours of knowledge streaming.

The full annual ADIPEC exhibition and conferences will resume physically from November 8 to 11, 2021 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

ADIPEC is supported by the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, the Abu Dhabi Chamber, and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.