While it is true that in the past several decades, we’ve seen a proper boom in the alternative energy industry, the truth is that our world still runs on oil and natural gas. This means that any upset to the oil and gas industry (regardless if it is positive or negative) might change the world as we know it. One such change comes in the form of digital transformation. So, what does it do for the oil industry and what kind of change can we expect to see? Let’s find out!

In-depth understanding of the customer base

The first major benefit of any industry in the digital age is a greater understanding of the customer base. Even at higher instances, the bulk of orders comes online. This means that you have the privilege of doing elaborate analytics of your customer base, based on their online activity. Information like where they’re coming from or how many of your competitors they have checked out before making an order is quite relevant for the adjustment of your business model. Also, keep in mind that this method allows you to further personalize your content and your offer.

One of the things that people often get confused by is the idea that personalization works best in B2C, while it’s somewhat less effective with B2B interactions. Seeing as how in the oil and gas industry, the majority of interactions are B2B, this would make some people forfeit its benefits and focus on something else entirely. The truth, however, lies in the fact that even in B2B, personal preferences play a major role, seeing as how it’s always a real human being (even if they are in the position of an executive) making a decision. So, personalizing your offer in just the right way can make a major difference and understanding your customer base is the first step in making this work.

Hardware-intensive environment

While it is true that proper digital assistance may help get the most out of the oil and gas industry, this is still one of the most hardware-intensive industries out there. Still, there are so many ways in which this aspect can be improved in the digital environment. For instance, a number of oil companies can benefit from the ability to order equipment and essential replacement parts online. Also, this provides a wider selection of items and manufacturers when it comes to high-quality oilfield equipment.

Other than this, monitoring the performance of the equipment in question has also been drastically enhanced. In the digital era, data is incredibly cheap and valuable, thus making it quite cost-effective. Also, due to the fact that you don’t have a realistic need to delete any records, any analytical efforts that you make will be that much more effective. This will allow you to plan out data transformation ever to your advantage. Another major benefit that comes from this major digitalization trend is automation. Needless to say, about 6 out of 10 jobs in this industry are going to get automated in the nearest future, which will drastically increase efficiency and reduce overhead

The involvement of e-commerce in the oil and gas industry has made it more affordable even for some of the smaller companies to get involved. This means that, in the future, we can expect an increase in competitiveness. By lowering the start-up costs, the number of enterprises in the oil industry will skyrocket. The same goes for a decrease in the overhead, which we’ve discussed in the previous paragraph. Also, keep in mind that with the development of digitalization and integration into oil and gas industry practices, it will be possible for these companies to reach the break-even point a lot sooner. 

Transportation

Another huge issue in this field lies in transportation, seeing as how vast quantities of this product need to get transported across the globe. With present-day technology, this is becoming more efficient with each passing hour. We’re not just talking about the speed of transportation but also your ability to fully monitor your fleet through elaborate fleet management systems. This makes the entire infrastructure more reliable, which is a huge asset in the business world.

Conclusion

The list goes on and on but one thing that’s also worth mentioning here is the fact that this particular industry affects virtually any other industry out there. This means that any change here (positive or negative) reflects on the global economy, as a whole. Therefore, any changes in the oil and gas industry are more than worth looking out for.