Thailand’s oil and gas industry is ready for digital transformation

Intira Laomeepol, Energy Industry lead, Accenture Thailand, explores the opportunities—and challenges—facing Thailand’s oil and gas industry.

How can Thai oil and gas companies position themselves for growth?
There are 3 key drivers of growth in Thailand’s oil and gas industry—analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobility. The lesson learned from the recent oil price volatility is that technology is crucial to support decision making. To maximize the impact of digital, oil and gas companies in Thailand will need to turn data into insights and action—for example, taking a machine and turning it into a smart machine to help predict or forecast and respond quickly. By incorporating machine learning and technologies such as smart sensors, Thai oil and gas companies will quickly see significant improvements in efficiency and safety. Being able to predict, for example, plant downtime or maintenance presents a remarkable opportunity for growth.

Is Thailand’s oil and gas industry ready for a digital disruption?
Definitely. We’re not seeing any push-back—oil and gas leaders are ready for a digital transformation. Mobile solutions aren’t new, and we’re already seeing an increasing focus on analytics, big data and IoT. The challenge is to understand how these technologies can truly help their businesses move beyond traditional operating models, to become more customer-centric and agile, rather than focusing only on short term benefits.