IT Governance and Organization in Smart Oil Fields

Abstract

Several major oil companies have brought in specific Information Technology (IT) to implement the Smart Oil Fields concept in practice. They did so to reduce costs, to increase productivity and for recovery purposes. However, implementing IT for Smart Oil Fields does not automatically imply that you have actually implemented a Smart Oil Field with all its benefits. Alignment of the IT to the specific business needs is often lacking. In order to successfully operate Smart Oil Fields, and getting most of the value, oil companies need to have an adequate IT Governance and Organization framework in place, which bridges the gap between business and IT. In order to develop such a framework, a PhD research was conducted at three different Operating Units of a major oil company. The research focused on the organizational structure of oil production locations, which had already implemented Smart Oil Fields. During our field research, interviews with staff & management were conducted, company documents were analyzed and observations were made. We combined our research findings with our project experience on IT Governance and Organization in major oil companies in The Netherlands, Russia and South America. Our research findings combined with our project experience has resulted into an integrated, hands-on IT Governance and Organization framework for oil & gas companies who are implementing or planning to implement Smart Oil Fields operations.