Contribution and evolution of technology in the petroleum industry

Greetings friends of the community of Project Hope.

As many know, technology has brought favorable and significant changes to our lives. There are multiple economic and industrial factors in which technology has contributed to the development of humanity, so I can say that the oil industry is no exception.

We live in a world where the energy demand makes the oil fields continue to be exploited but each time under a different vision and context, perhaps at the beginning of oil exploitation we did not know of the unfavorable impact that the exploitation of hydrocarbons would have on the environment, so one of the constant challenges of technology is to provide the oil industry with a sustainable way to produce oil and natural gas.

Not only is there a vision of the contribution of technology to the oil industry aimed at minimizing a negative environmental impact, but it must also provide an optimized process in their operational processes of exploration and production, as there are for example inaccessible locations where it is very difficult for workers to operate.

In view of the above, I would like to summarize the aspects that have been improved by technology and the new challenges of continuing to exploit the oil and natural gas exploration and production business.

Aspects in which technology has contributed to the improvement of processes in the petroleum industry

The technology has positively benefited the oil industry in strengthening the security of its operations and the supply of oil and energy development worldwide. In recent years there have been technological advances that have helped the development of this industry in the following aspects.

1] Oil reserves have been increased to levels unthinkable in previous years, perhaps this is a trend that will continue to increase in the coming years.

2] With technology and its early incorporation into the oil industry, it has been possible to access places that are completely inaccessible, when technology allows for reaching increasingly inaccessible places, it is allowing for wells to be drilled in geographical locations that seemed unthinkable. The production of wells previously drilled in those same inaccessible places has also improved as these wells can be operationally serviced in hostile environments and remote locations that are challenging to maintain and monitor.

3] With technology, it has been possible to transform non-conventional resources into conventional resources by using high-end technology in which, for example, well drilling methods have been used that are much more advanced than those used 50 years ago. For example, a few years ago, drilling was only done in a vertical direction downwards from the subsoil, but today, with the contribution of technology, it is possible to drill in different angles and directions in what is known as directional drilling.

Clearly there are many more benefits in the history of the oil industry, and there are also multiple challenges that technology has to overcome in relation to the oil business, however I wanted to touch on just these three benefits so that you have an idea of what has been contributed and so that you can draw your own conclusions based on the new challenges that technology can have in the future to contribute to the oil and natural gas industry.