Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a boon for several industries in terms of monitoring and analytic purposes. The opportunities in this area are increasing perpetually as more and more industries, from healthcare and agriculture to mining, transportation, and others, are demanding for an efficient way of monitoring and collecting data. Oil and gas industry is witnessing an impending need for the integration of IoT into their operations.
One of the companies which is working towards this integration is ABB Ltd. which has developed a ‘submersible transformer inspection robot'. This is a virtual reality (VR) driven remotely operated inspection robot which is able to operate in extremely hazardous transformer environments. The current method of inspection puts the technician's life at risk primarily due to the exposure to highly toxic environment. Further, the current method is a cost and labor intensive process, which is again a grave disadvantage. These disadvantages are expected to decrease substantially with the help of this robot.1
Currently, the market penetration of IoT is very low but few companies such as GE and SAP SE, have been able to build a partnership with oil and gas companies for their IoT offerings. However, a revolution is awaiting in the future as several public and the private players are coming up with next-generation IoT solution for oil and gas industry. In June 2017, Beyond Limits announced of securing $20 million from sole investor BP Ventures, in order to fulfil its aim to commercialize AI technology used by NASA and the US Department of Defense. Beyond Limits is initially targeting the oil and gas industry, with the aim of providing "new levels of operational insight, business optimisation, and process automation".2
Acknowledging the potential IoT holds for oil and gas industry, BIS Research has compiled a report titled ‘Global Internet of Things (IOT) in Oil and Gas (O&G) Market- Analysis and Forecast: 2017-2026'. According to the analyst, "Global IoT in O&G market is anticipated to grow to $30.57 billion by 2026. It is expected to be mainly driven by a shortage of skilled labor, an increasing number of cyber-attacks, aging infrastructure, and need to increase operational efficiency, which will act as the key drivers for the growth of this market."
This market report is an in-depth analysis of the key development strategies and market trend dynamics which includes drivers, challenges, and opportunities prevailing in both the industries. Moreover, value chain analysis, consortiums, and patents have also been included in the report.
References:
1 The Next Silicon Valley
2 ZD Net
