scholarly journals The psychological factors that influence successful technology adoption in the oil and gas industry

Author(s):  
Ruby Roberts ◽  
Rhona Flin

To ensure that the full potential of innovative technology is maximised, it is crucial to understand the psychological factors that influence technology adoption in all industrial consumers. The oil and gas (O&G) industry exemplifies industrial consumers’ reluctance to adopt new technology. Our critical incident interviews identified the key psychological factors that influence technology adoption in the O&G industry. These were personality (innovativeness and risk aversion), attitudes (trust, motivations, “not invented here” syndrome and “engineering mindset”), social (subjective norms and self-image), cognitive (risk perception, uncertainty and familiarity, expertise, and previous experiences) and organizational level factors (leadership, management, organisational culture, adoption culture, and rewards system). In combination with future case studies, these results can be used to develop interventions that support the successful introduction and acceptance of new technology not only in O&G but in other high-risk sectors.

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (01) ◽  
pp. 515-528
Author(s):  
Ruby Roberts ◽  
Rhona Flin

Summary To maximize the opportunities for the adoption of newly developed products, there is a need to better understand how psychological factors have an impact on the acceptance and deployment of innovative technology in industry. While there is extensive general literature on the psychological factors that influence consumer behavior and the use of new technologies, there seemed to be very limited understanding of this topic, specifically relating to the upstream energy sector. A literature review was conducted to (1) identify what, if any, research has been conducted in relation to the psychological factors influencing technology adoption and deployment in the oil and gas (O&G) industry and (2) identify what interventions have been developed to support technology adoption in O&G. A literature search was undertaken, and given the limited research anticipated, minimum selection criteria were applied on the basis of Cochrane quality control (Higgins and Green 2011). In the 17 articles that met the search criteria, there was limited discussion of the psychological factors that have an impact on O&G technology adoption. The articles were subject to Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis, producing a list of psychological factors that influence technology adoption in O&G. Only five psychological factors were identified: personality (e.g., exploration traits and risk aversion), attitude (e.g., trust and not-invented-here syndrome), social (e.g., social norms), cognition (e.g., risk perception), and psychological factors at an organizational level (leadership and organizational culture). In addition, our review identified a small number of interventions that were developed and deployed to support technology adoption in O&G. Given the early stages of this research area, combined with the relevance for technology innovation in upstream O&G, our review adds to the literature by identifying an initial framework of the key psychological factors. This essential set of factors can be used to direct future research, as well as to support effective interventions aimed at supporting the introduction of new technology.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruby Roberts ◽  
Rhona Flin ◽  
Luca Corradi

Abstract Working towards a net zero future requires change and adaptation from us all. Innovation offers many potential solutions on how to successfully make that change within the oil and gas industry. Consequently, maximising the value that technological innovation presents is vital for delivering a sustainable net zero. Yet, the oil and gas industry has developed a reputation for being conservative and reluctant to adopt new technology, with companies sometimes referred to as "fast followers". In recent years, the industry has begun to change with an incremental increase in innovation activities. Despite these efforts, and a need to accelerate innovation, there appears to be a resistance to adopt new technology. Evidence from O&G industry bodies indicate that psychological factors play a key role in technology adoption; not surprisingly, as workers, managers, investors, and regulators can all have a powerful influence on an organisation's receptivity to new technology. Recent research has provided insight into the psychological factors that influence technology uptake decisions in the oil and gas industry. Through a series of studies, the psychological technology adoption framework (P-TAF) was developed which outlined the 15 key psychological factors that influence technology adoption decisions. These are organised into 6 categories: personality, attitudes, motivations, cognitive factors, social factors, and organisational level factors. The work emphasised the influence that overarching organisational culture can have on how people respond to and introduce technology within their company. Whilst technology readiness levels are commonly applied to start-ups and their innovations, less is known about the readiness culture which facilitates innovation uptake. To bridge this gap, a preliminary measure of organisational innovation adoption culture was developed as based upon the previous psychological research, empirical innovation measures, and organisational culture models. This was piloted as an online survey with 36 people working in the technology space in O&G in June 2020. These results were used to later refine the culture measure to develop a 33-item scale consisting of eight categories. This new measure was deployed as part of an industry benchmarking study of innovation adoption culture within O&G consisting of 82 managers from 12 companies and in December 2020. Participating organisations were given the opportunity to receive a snapshot of their technology adoption culture. An overview of the measure and a summary of survey results will be given during the presentation as well as recommendations on how to support an innovation adoption culture. A considerable volume of new technology needs to be developed and adopted to be able to reach net zero and understanding the psychological and cultural barriers is imperative to delivering that.


Author(s):  
Raisa Azieva

New breakthrough technologies can have a positive or negative impact on the development of the fuel and energy sector. Therefore, the main thing is to evaluate technologies, analyze their suitability for the industry and determine priorities for future opportunities, i.e., identify technologies that provide new advantages for the energy world, and determine how, when and how their impact will become tangible. In this regard, researchers have determined that the innovative technology of the XXI century, recognized to transform the national and global economy is the blockchain technology. The article provides an overview of blockchain technology, defines the principles of its operation and possible applications, i.e., identifies the mechanism of action of the revolutionary system, as well as presents the players of the oil and gas industry to launch blockchain technology and identifies the advantages of innovative technology used in the oil and gas sector. It is determined that on the basis of the new technology, it is possible to create a single network for digitizing all interaction processes and automating them. The study also shows that the scope of application of blockchain in the oil and gas business is much broader, which determines the possibility of further consideration of a wide range of the need for the use of blockchain technology for the oil and gas industry, as well as its impact on the development of oil and gas companies.


Author(s):  
Veronica Ferrara ◽  
Lars E. Bakken ◽  
Stefano Falomi ◽  
Giuseppe Sassanelli ◽  
Matteo Bertoneri ◽  
...  

In the last few years wet compression has received special attention from the oil and gas industry. Here, the development and implementation of new subsea solutions are important focus areas to increase production and recovery from existing fields. This new technology will contribute to exploitation of small and remote fields and access in very deep water. In this regard liquid tolerance represents a viable option to reduce the cost of a subsea compression station bringing considerable simplification to the subsea process itself. However, the industry may experience some drawbacks: the various levels of liquid presence may create operational risk for traditional compressors; the liquid may cause mechanical damage because of erosion and corrosion of the internal units and the compressor performance might be affected too. The experimental investigation conducted in the study considers dry and wet conditions in a laboratory setup to understand how the presence of liquid influences the stage performance. The test campaign has been carried out at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, in Trondheim, to assess the performance and operating range of a tridimensional impeller when processing a mixture of gas and liquid phases. Experimental results allowed validating the OEM internal prediction code for compressors’ performance in wet conditions. Finally, the effect of liquid on machine operability has been assessed through a left-limit investigation by means of dynamic pressure probes readings in order to evaluate the stall/surge behaviour for different values of liquid mass fraction.


2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 491
Author(s):  
Paul Agar

With rising costs, a tight labour market, and prolonged global economic uncertainty, it is unsurprising that investment decisions are being re-evaluated across Australia's resources and energy industry. Amid this tough market environment, effective asset management has never been more important. Asset management was first adopted by Australia's oil and gas industry in the early 90s and is now well entrenched. There is widespread acknowledgement that it breaks down project complexity and plays a critical role in maximising project net present value. If done well, asset management takes a long-term view of asset life-cycles–from concept and creation, to services that deliver production assurance and lower costs. While these principles are well understood across the market, asset data capture and analysis–a critical element to successful asset management–requires ongoing review. Accurate and comprehensive asset data is the basis on which all good asset-management decisions are made. Developments in geographic information systems, SAP, and cloud-based technology are redefining the way asset data is collected, stored, analysed, and fed back into asset-management decisions. Asset managers of oil and gas assets should, therefore, be asking themselves three important questions: Are we using the latest technology to collect, store, and analyse asset data? Which project stakeholders need to interact with the data? Do our existing or planned asset-management models have the capacity to integrate and evolve with new technology as it develops?


Author(s):  
Josef Avagianos ◽  
Kostas Papamantellos

The world production capacity on large-diameter welded pipe amounts to more than 12 million tons per year 20–25% are produced as spiral sub-arc welded (SAW) pipes, with the balance of 75–80% being longitudinal SAW pipes (from plates). For most spiral-weld producers, a sizeable portion of line pipe is for water transportation, rather than hydrocarbon. In the past, the relative structural weakness of spiral-welded pipe, due to larger welded area, limited the growth of its use in the oil industry. With the development of more advanced production technology, the acceptance of spiral-welded pipes in the oil and gas industry has increased significantly. In this paper, the principals of the spiral manufacturing technology from coil by the two-step-method are introduced and the innovations of Corinth Pipework’s production facility are outlined in detail, including the sophisticated NDT techniques and the Quality Management System.


Author(s):  
Ricardo de Lepeleire ◽  
Nicolas Rogozinski ◽  
Hank Rogers ◽  
Daniel Ferrari

Within the oil and gas industry, significant costs are often incurred by the operating company during the well-construction phase of drilling operations. Specifically, the operators cost to drill a well can cost tens or hundreds of millions of USD. One specific area where significant changes in drilling operations have occurred is in the offshore environment, specifically operations from mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs). With the ever-increasing demand for oil and gas, operators globally have increased drilling budgets in an effort to meet forecasted demand. However, the increased budgets are often eroded or offset by increasing drilling costs. Therefore, operators are continually in search of new technology, processes, or procedures to help improve drilling operations and overall operational efficiencies. One Latin America operator identified a common operation as a possible area where operational cost could be easily reduced through the implementation of systems that allow the manipulation of valve manifolds remotely. Additionally, operating such valve manifolds remotely enhanced operational safety for personnel, which was an equally important consideration. This paper details the evaluation of existing equipment and procedures and a process used to develop a new remote-control system using a machine logic control (MLC) that has been designed, built, tested, and deployed successfully on MODUs operating in Latin America.


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