I had a conversation with a friend of mine who lives in Midland, Texas. She’s married to an Executive in the Oil and Gas Industry and lives on property that is being drilled by a different oil company. She expressed her frustration with what property owners have to deal with when it comes to not owning mineral rights and how the companies can just “poke holes anywhere they want.”
She told of a story where one company had spent a month digging down and missed their mark and broke the casing causing an oil leak that had to be sealed. This type of situation is all too common for oil drillers and can take an additional month to seal, reposition and drill back down a second time. I can imagine the frustration for everyone involved.
Midland is located between Fort Worth and El Paso and has experienced large growth in their population. Pre-oil boom Midland had roughly 111,000 people and has since the latest boom it has grown to roughly 155,000-165,000 people. Midland is not unique in this experience, cities across the country are experiencing similar growth due to oil, and along with that growth, comes the insurgence of new Oil and Gas Companies. My friend from Midland says that there’s also a growing fear of a saturated market that established companies are dealing with, which will drive down the price of oil per barrel.
What Can Set You Apart from Others?
Technology. We obviously know that the companies with the most technologically advanced rigs will be the ones that capture the most market share. According to UBS, the companies with the modern fleet are earning higher day rates, margins and are in greater demand because of better technology. But, technology in the O&G industry spreads across many functions including research and development, developing new extraction techniques, and simple day to day operations. There’s a lot of funding going into innovative companies that can help O&G companies work smarter.
A software is at the head of technology innovation for O&G companies covering areas like geophysical, geological, engineering workflows, plant control systems for bulk material companies and reservoir engineering geological services. Another key software technology that is developed by 360factors is a cloud-based operational risk management software program called Predict360. It is a solution that helps organizations dynamically manage regulatory changes through integration of content, knowledge, and training to achieve Regulatory Compliance and Audit Readiness in one integrated subscription-based software suite. Every business has procedures and documentation management software, but very few businesses have a process to enforce compliance and prove conformance to policy and procedures for “Audit Readiness.”
What technology sets your company apart in this industry? What technology can increase your margins whether it’s on the ground or at corporate headquarters?
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