Why Big Data is Critical to the Growth of the Oil and Gas Industry

Big data is changing many industries across the world, and oil and gas is no exception. Big data refers to data that is entering business systems at a much higher volume and velocity than ever before. This data is created by a constantly growing network of interconnected systems and devices, creating a new opportunity for businesses to capitalize on the insights around them.

However, while big data presents an opportunity for businesses, it also presents a challenge: organizations that continue to rely on old-fashioned ways of storing, securing and analyzing data will quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the amount of information coming into their business systems. In order to prepare themselves to capitalize on big data, oil and gas organizations need to make sure they have the right tools in place to handle the exponentially growing volume of data and that their company culture is optimally configured to pursue the benefits of big data.

When handled appropriately, big data can offer oil and gas companies three major benefits:

• The ability to process highly detailed land surveys, like those created using GIS mapping
• The ability to make exploration and production decisions quickly, and with a higher degree of confidence
• The ability to build the best and most engaged workforce possible

Process Highly Detailed Land Surveys

When it comes to land surveying, the current state of the industry is clear: there is no more easy oil out there to be found. This means that companies that continue to rely on low-detail land surveying technologies—the kind of technology that may have worked just fine when oil reserves were greater—will soon find these technologies to be time-consuming, inefficient, and unprofitable.

Luckily, there are new land surveying technologies out there that can provide the level of detail needed to run a profitable oil and gas operation in the current energy environment. However, these new technologies, such as GIS mapping, are just as data-intensive as they are detail-intensive. Organizations will need to be ready to handle large volumes of data if they’re going to make the most of these new surveying technologies.

Make Exploration and Production Decisions Quickly and Confidently

Oil and gas companies today have to deal with two competing priorities when it comes to making exploration and production decisions. Making the wrong decision can cost a company time and resources, eating away at profit margins. At the same time, decisions have to made in a timely manner if the company is going to succeed and grow.

With big data, it’s possible for companies to balance both of these priorities. The level of data that’s available in the oil and gas industry today means that it’s no longer necessary to rely on guesswork and intuition. By processing big data and analyzing it to extract the useful business insights, a company can make the right move quickly, while also feeling confident about the decision they’ve made.

Hire the Best and Most Engaged Workforce

The benefits of big data don’t stop in the field; oil and gas organizations can use big data to maximize success in the office as well. By analyzing data patterns to identify skill gaps, adjust recruitment priorities, and make the best, most informed hiring decisions possible, human resources organizations can dramatically reduce the amount of costly bad hires they make.

In addition, once the hires have been made, HR can use big data to make sure that employees are feeling engaged in their work, while also identifying opportunities for greater engagement.

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