Digital twins are rapidly becoming a mainstay in oil and gas operations as companies strive to optimize asset performance and minimize unplanned outages.
That’s what GlobalData Oil and Gas Analyst Ravindra Puranik said in a release sent to Rigzone recently, adding that “this aims to make oil and gas operations relatively safer while lowering the carbon footprint and improving profitability”.
“Besides, companies are also deploying these tools for remote monitoring and predictive maintenance, among other benefits,” Puranik added in the release, which highlighted that the company recently released a report on digital twin technology and its potential implications in oil and gas operations.
Digital twins are digital representations of physical assets, systems, people, or processes, GlobalData stated in the release, noting that they help detect, prevent, predict, and optimize the physical environment using artificial intelligence, real-time analytics, visualization, and simulation tools.
“In [the] case of oil and gas, digital twins can support the entire project lifecycle from the project design to commissioning,” GlobalData said in the report.
“It can also help in overseeing the asset performance during operations and aid in personnel training,” it added.
According to a chart included in the release, GlobalData’s thematic intelligence center estimates that the global digital twins market will be worth $154 billion by 2030, with the majority of that made up of services and the rest comprising software. The market’s worth is estimated to break over $40 billion during 2025, the chart showed.
“By harnessing real-time data, simulation, and analytics, digital twins can offer profound insights about operational assets,” Puranik said in the release.
“They can enable oil and gas companies to streamline processes, pre-empt breakdowns, bolster safety measures, and thus, enhance overall profitability. With their ability to provide a comprehensive view of operations, digital twins assist in formulating more informed and precise decisions, rendering them indispensable tools in oil and gas operations,” Puranik added.
“The eventual goal is to achieve autonomous operations at production units to boost safety and productivity,” Puranik went on to state.
In the release, GlobalData noted that digital twins were initially deployed in capital-intensive oil and gas production facilities to streamline processes, mitigate emission footprint, and generate cost savings. Since then, companies have created twins of their pipeline systems, gas plants, LNG terminals, as well as refineries and petrochemical complexes, the company highlighted in the release.
“Oil and gas companies are also keen on using this technology for their newer ventures beyond oil and gas, including in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and renewable power projects,” Puranik said in the release.
“There is considerable potential for digital twins in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of CCS projects and to predict the power output from wind or solar farms,” Puranik added.
“Another emerging use case is in supply chain and inventory management, where products can be tracked in real-time to ensure their timely availability for end use applications. This would help in streamlining logistics costs and maintain product quality for end consumers,” Puranik continued.
Last month, UK oil and gas regulator the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) announced that a set of draft principles designed to support the energy transition and benefit every user of the North Sea had been published for comment and consideration.
In that announcement, the NSTA said stakeholders in the UK offshore sector will be asked to commit to a set of principles to help the sector achieve the energy transition through digitalization.
“That is, to embrace targeted, collaborative data-sharing to strengthen predictive models (like digital twins), optimize operations, and achieve net-zero objectives,” it added.
In a release sent to Rigzone back in February 2023, GlobalData said companies were aiming to expand the usage of AI-driven digital twin technologies, which it said “will enable the industrial metaverse, a network of durable real-time virtual world”.
In a release sent to Rigzone in March 2021, GlobalData said the convergence of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and big data is driving the adoption of digital twins across industries to build products, monitor assets, optimize maintenance, and reduce downtime.
“The digital twin technology has gained a lot of traction in the last few years due to accelerated digitalization across industries,” Kiran Raj, a Principal Disruptive Tech Analyst at GlobalData, stated in that release.
“It has become more valuable during the Covid-19 pandemic to help companies navigate the crisis,” Raj added.
“Startups have the capacity to provide off-the-shelf and bespoke digital twin solutions that enterprises in various industries such as construction, oil and gas, automotive and healthcare can quickly integrate into their business operations,” Raj continued.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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