In particular, I believe that the first important thing that we should all consider is that under the current scenario in which the oil industry is subjected to low oil prices and seen by many as an industry that threatens to increase global warming, all these considerations make me think that it is necessary that the oil industry reinvents a new action in the exploitation of hydrocarbons taking into account minimizing production costs with the intention that if in the future a scenario of low oil prices is repeated, oil exploitation can continue to be viable.
The second challenge must be to evolve towards new technologies that allow the extraction of oil and natural gas in more environmentally friendly ways. It is also important that not only new technologies are applied to make oil and natural gas extraction more environmentally friendly, but that oil refining evolves to generate fuels that do not contribute to the generation of greenhouse gases, or at least that the emission is less polluting than the current one.
If the two challenges mentioned above put the oil industry in a context of reinvention, then we could say that we would be approaching the new era of the oil industry.
What factors are constantly pushing the oil industry to reinvent itself?
As I mentioned before, global warming ends up being a hot topic, since people are interested in knowing the future of humanity here on earth, which makes one think that if the oil industry wants to stay within the elite industries worldwide it has to end up accepting the need for a process of change, The other thing to consider is that until new forms of energy emerge that manage to cover the current energy demand, oil will continue to be in high demand and used worldwide. This reason, together with a more sustainable use of this resource, pushes the oil industry to enter a process of transition, so it is worth asking:
What technological tools does the oil industry have to successfully face this new transitional challenge?
The adoption of digital technologies has always been there at the order of the day in the oil industry, even since I worked in well drilling operations I always saw the dependence of digitalization, and it is not for less since really the contribution of digitalization was reflected in the optimization of the processes involved. However, I believe that the scenario that refers to digitalization will have to increase and diversify with new technological incorporations, since the new challenges will make digitalization increase exponentially, if you believe that it is already happening, let me tell you that I believe that it will intensify as a result of the demand of the new challenges.
How can this picture be seen and understood by the oil industries?
Once the oil industries worldwide manage to accept the current panorama, then they will be able to build the new scenarios on a par with the requirements of today's society in terms of sustainability and a lifestyle more in line with environmental requirements.
The oil industries should have a criterion of innovation on a large scale in which they can reorient their goals in a new global energy scenario.
Is there a possibility not to reinvent under this current trend?
From my perspective, the global oil industry has no choice but to reinvent itself, otherwise it will lose its credibility as a contributor to the creation of a new world.
I believe that the turning point that would provide today's society with that moment of time in which we would be able to discern whether the oil industry would be entering that process of change is when the oil industry, for example, adopts advanced generation digital technology, that is, a much more advanced digital technology than the current one.
You can imagine the oil industry using block chain technology in the payment of the purchase and sale of crude oil.
I believe that the time has come to wait for new changes around this great industry that has been hit by low oil prices. It is necessary for it to be competitive and sustainable, so a combination of changes is the only way for the oil industry to continue surviving now and in the near future.