Data Facilitator for the Oil and Gas Industry

Q: What have been the major differences that Petrolink’s services have made in the oil and gas industry?

A: We pride ourselves on offering real-time services as one of our main differentiators and for contributing to turning this into a commodity. We strongly support the use of proven standards in the industry, ultimately bringing more companies on board with these practices. One of our vice presidents is on the board of directors of Energistics, a consortium that manages digital and automation standards for the oil and gas industry. We have helped the industry to realize that their operations benefit a great deal from these services and standards. Moreover, we make a difference in the industry by adding the interpretation of data in real time as a complement to visual analyses. We talk about algorithms to calculate the efficiency of the operation and overcome data-quality issues that might cause misinterpretation. We help other companies cope with these misinterpretations by providing precise calculations instead of the usual estimations offered in the market. We are also developing tools based on machine learning and artificial intelligence because the drilling industry is reaching a point where it is producing a lot of useful information, which implies challenges and opportunities regarding what to do with it.

Q: How do your data analysis services make your customers’ operations more efficient?

A: Efficiency in data processing means having all the information available and the interpretative tools needed for decision-making. Implementation is also necessary to ensure that the decision is communicated in the right way and our solutions work because they link what we provide regarding information and analysis with real communication protocols inside companies. We have two types of clients in the oil industry, oil companies and drilling contractors, with the former employing this service to monitor and supervise their operations while the latter monitors the efficiency of their rigs and equipment. Failing to optimize drilling means extra time and extra costs, so we focus on KPIs that allow the identification of optimal times and costs.

Q: What steps have you taken to push for higher-quality collection processes in Mexico?

A: The drilling process involves lowering the pipe, connecting to the pipe below and pushing that pipe to make the operation run. This is a hard process to measure but we measure the time required for the pipe to perform this operation. By measuring this process in Mexico, where the oil and gas industry uses technology possessed by IOCs rather than the NOC or government, it was identified that data quality exposed underlying issues that affected service delivery. Therefore, we decided to go to the service providers and convince them of the benefits of our services.

Q: How would you assess the development of your operational excellence center for PEMEX?

A: This is an in-house center located inside the facilities of oil companies where they have people monitoring the data 24/7 to have that alerting service nearby. The downturn in oil prices pushed companies to start cutting expenses and some of them deemed this service non-essential, so we decided to experiment with new things and introduce a remote alert service with recommendations on how to evaluate their facilities’ behavior. We are proud of this introduction as it was initially seen as something that would not work in Mexico, since PEMEX is quite a conservative company, but they foresaw the value and approved the implementation and now we even provide this service to our clients in the US and Argentina, operating remotely from our office in Mexico.

Q: What value does your PetroVue Mobile app provide your customers in terms of operability?

A: PetroVue Mobile allows an operator to check the status of its facility operations remotely, making a decision based on the alerts received from operational developments. At the moment we are offering this service to our clients and they have responded positively.