A Delivering the Welcome Address at the conference, Dr R K Malhotra, Director General, FIPI underlined the role of digitization in enabling the oil and gas industry in taking better decisions and creating new ways for safer and more efficient operations in the industry. He further mentioned that savings from the Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential of making oil companies profitable even in a low price scenario. Speaking on a practical approach for digital transformation for the oil and gas industry, Mr. Vikas Kaushal pointed out that the three pillars for driving digitalization in the industry are increasing productivity, extending the core business and creating new value streams. He mentioned that for successful implementation of digital technologies it is important that the organization sets a proper direction, involves all stakeholders and educates the workforce in the technologies and enables them to take decisions. Mr. Anand Laxshmivarahan R sharing Cairn Oil & Gas’s experience with digital technologies underlined that there is no one single digital solutions that will fit all companies but will depend on the organization’s culture and strategic priorities.

The chief guest at the event was Mr Amar Nath, Joint Secretary (Explorations), MoPNG. Speaking at the Inaugural session he mentioned that the oil and gas industry worldwide has been a laggard in adopting digital technologies. However, climate change has now forced the industry implement digital technologies to curb emissions and reduce wastes. Going forward, the use of technology in the sector will be imperative to solve business problems and create new value. Delivering the closing remarks at the Inaugural Session, Mr T K Sengupta, Director (Explorations), FIPI mentioned that the oil and gas industry has fallen behind other industries in adopting digital technologies and there is a need for the leadership teams to drive the change and set examples. He mentioned the importance of adoption of ‘innovation is our obsession’ ideology for the oil and gas industry and predicted that such attitude will go a long way in ensuring safe and efficient operations and adding business value.

The daylong conference witnessed deliberations on various digital technologies that have benefitted the industry across the value chain. The speakers at the three sessions organized during the conference came from both digital technology providers and the industry. While the technology providers apprised the audience with their latest offerings for the sector and its benefits, the speakers from the industry shared their experience of adopting new technologies in operations and creating an accepting culture for digital technologies through interesting anecdotes. Some of the notable topics touched upon during the conference were use of digital technologies in Asset management, supply chain, changing enterprise systems, digital refineries, role of GIS and intelligent pipelining. The audience made the experience further engaging through asking various questions and sharing experiences from their respective organizations.

Taking account of the overwhelming interest shown by the technology providers at the first edition of the event in 2018, the second edition hosted the exhibition ‘Digital Experience’ on the sidelines of the conference. Large number of technology providers, ranging from start-ups to international technology giants, participated at the exhibition. The exhibition provided the technology providers with a unique opportunity to display their latest technologies, which could benefit the oil and gas sector and helped explore the business opportunities with prospective clients. The exhibition received an awe inspiring response from the participants and helped the industry participants explore the technologies best fit for their organization.

The concluding remarks at the conference were delivered by Mr N K Bansal, Director (Oil Refining and Marketing), FIPI. Mr Bansal summarized the proceedings of the day and underlined that though there are a range of digital solutions being made available by technology providers, it will require prudent decision making by the oil and gas companies on investing in technologies best fit for their needs.