CERAWeek talks tech
IHS Markit CEO talks about how companies are seeking efficiency
Energy industry leaders at CERAWeek in Houston discuss technology, as well as oil and gas operations on federal lands.
CERAWeek by IHS Markit, considered the premier energy policy conference, opened in Houston this week, attracting energy industry executives, government ministers, regulators, and lawmakers.
Lance Uggla, chief executive officer of IHS Markit, sat down with the Chronicle to discuss technology, data needs and other challenges facing the energy industry. His edited remarks follow.
Q: What is on the minds of CERAWeek conference participants this year?
A: Things are pretty positive in the global market with energy prices increasing in the past 12 to 24 months. The second thing I’d say is that technology is affecting all the energy markets. It’s at the forefront of what they do including how technological disruption affects their own businesses, and how it
makes them more efficient and makes new products. The buzz around technology includes artificial intelligence, blockchain and natural language processing. Q: What are some technical changes on the horizon?
A: Distribution ledger technologies — DLT — can transfer ownership of assets in a very secure way by using encryption to process and settle transactions. Another technical change is artificial intelligence. You start at the base of that — machine learning — and you can make yourself more efficient by eliminating repetitious tasks. Q: Will that replace roughnecks in the oil field?
A: No. We want to augment what we can do with human efforts by letting more mundane tasks get done by artificial intelligence. A lot of what we do is spend time looking for patterns. But instead of having people scour the web to provide information on terrorism, political unrest and other factors for 120 countries, computers can easily scrape the web. Then the results can be augmented by people on the ground. This idea that robots will replace us all is a little farfetched. Q: Newly graduated petroleum engineers have had trouble finding jobs lately, what with the low price of oil and gas. Is it safe to go back and study petroleum engineering with oil prices climbing?
A: I think so with the return of exploration in the United States, especially in the Permian Basin. Q: Where will be the center of research and development activity for renewables, such as solar power, wind power, and battery-operated vehicles?
A: You have countries like Australia that have made some serious strides with renewables. And Europe where they’ve had strong policy and support for climate change. Oil companies have a very balanced approach including renewables. I’d say two things are happening. The percentage of capital expenditures of renewables is growing. And two, technology is producing oil at a lower cost. Q: What data points do your energy clients look at most often?
A: Supply and demand and the absolute price of oil. And how is new technology affecting supply and demand.