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7 Points to Get the Most Out of Your Offshore Oil and Gas Data

By Enrique Gonzalez - Nautech de Mexico

Founder & CEO

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The exponential growth of data generation may be seen from different perspectives: some would call it interesting, massive, risky, controversial, and many other qualifiers. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC),[1] the global datasphere will go from 33 to 175 zettabytes[2] between 2018 and 2025. Independently of such views, one of the most accepted opinions is that the growth and potential of that data is extremely valuable. Entirely new markets have been developed around and derived from the data generated within niches that were believed to be saturated. It’s like zooming into a digital map, where you start with a big picture of a planet or a continent and as you continue zooming in you discover huge areas of opportunity in unexplored territories.

The multinational giant GE tells us that each of its aircraft engines produces around 1 terabyte of data per flight[3]. But it’s not just about generating data or realizing that your regular activities generate all that data; it’s about knowing how to organize it and what to do with it. That means extracting value from it.

The Mexican offshore oil and gas industry is no exception. I’m pretty sure the engines of any offshore supply vessel generate as much data as those GE aircraft, not to mention the day-by-day operations of such boats. A colossal amount of data is generated, with a potential value that is equally gigantic. Unfortunately, shipowners in this sector don’t have this big opportunity among their top priorities. The point is, while the aircraft builders and operators are aware of the value they are extracting from their data, the Mexican ship owners and operators are not. Why is that? Are they aware of the amount of data they currently generate (and its value)? Do they have any idea on how to extract value from such data? Are they afraid of not being able to do it right or protecting it?

Cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important by the hour, especially after you have identified and begun extracting the value from your data. But hackers are everywhere and not necessarily hacking your servers or (hard/virtual) drives. They may be taking advantage right now by extracting key information from a paper log or your notepad at your desk, and you have not even noticed it. So, going digital is not necessarily less safe or makes it more likely you will be hacked. Ironically, the easiest and most vulnerable asset to hack is the human factor. It will take around one year to hack a simple SHA1 hash (assuming you have the entire bitcoin network power behind). On the other hand, it will take you a couple of hours to cheat a person into giving away his/her username, password, PIN or any secret piece of data. It’s even easier if your data is on a piece of paper or any analog source.

There are challenges in going digital and making the most out of the value your company’s data may produce. Here are seven points on how shipowners in the Mexican offshore oil and gas industry can extract the value they are currently wasting from their data:

(Believe it or not) REALIZE that your company’s current operation generates a lot of valuable data: on-hire, off-hire, pax, cargo, onloads, offloads, transit times, engine maintenance times and specs and hundreds of datapoints along the process.
START registering and organizing such data. But do it professionally. Excel sheets and paper logs may be useful for some limited needs but they are neither safe nor powerful enough to enhance the full value behind data.
PROTECT your data. Be careful not to confuse protection with hermeticism. Data is like milk: very nutritious but if you don’t use it quickly it gets spoiled.
ANALYZE your data. Since that data comes from your ongoing operational processes, most (if not all) of it must make sense and be useful, either to improve those same processes or eliminate them (which could result in substantial savings).
SHARE your insights from your analysis. Again, hermeticism is the enemy. Many companies hold most of their data confidential by keeping it closed to everybody (even themselves). That is a waste of value. Share your analysis with your allies, partners, even with your competitors (when applicable). You will find that data may be seen as a currency that must flow to get more value.
Get the RIGHT value from your data. Again, if data is a currency, there are different denominations (as in coins and bills). Concentrate on those with greater value to you and your company’s needs.
Continue the CYCLE. This circuit must be repeated endlessly to get more and more value each time.

An interesting thing about extracting value from data (maybe point No. 8), is that you don’t have to do it all by yourself. You can do it through someone or something else, such as a platform, for example. Platforms actually help companies with points 2 through 7. You just have to start the process with point No. 1. Of course, you may invest in software or some tech solution but it will become expensive and increase your overhead, while a platform will help you to extract most of the value you are pursuing without the need of big investments. At the same time, they keep your data safe by using banking cybersecurity like cryptography.

There are ways to enjoy the benefits of digitalization in offshore oil and gas logistics and doing it safely by using online platforms and services like NautechMX. Make the most out of your data, always keeping it safe.

For more info, please reach out to our team: enrique@nautech.com.mx.

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