The latest series of ADIPEC’s Energy Dialogue focused on how the oil and gas industry should embrace novel technology in the wake of BP’s $5 million investment in a cloud-based geospatial analytics software company, according to a press release. 

BP’s Senior Vice President of digital science and engineering, Morag Watson, ADIPEC’s distinguished guest speaker, urged the oil and gas industry to use technology to reimagine the global energy system. 

“For me, it is not just about the technology,” Watson said. “Many of the technologies have been on a reasonably fast trajectory for a while. The industry has to be open to thinking, how can we do things differently?” 

Watson emphasized the need for a new business mindset and new digital skills to reap the benefits from advanced existing technologies, maintaining that the oil and gas industry is lagging behind other industries. According to her, if the oil and gas sector is to succeed in the energy transition, then it is going to have to open up to the possibilities of leveraging digital technologies. 

Watson suggests that companies should look outside the industry for innovative new ideas and ways to use digital technologies to take the industry forward. She highlighted how BP is on the right track pointing to BP’s strategic investment in Satelytics, the cloud-based geospatial analytics software company. 

Furthermore, the oil and gas sector needs to bring in new “digital native” talent into the oil and gas industry by means of convincing young people of the opportunities the industry has to offer and that the sector is trying to solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world.