Digital technologies in the oil and gas industry: technology selection, advantages and risks

Currently, the widespread use of digital technologies (DTs) in the oil-gas industry is shaping an environment referred to as digital oil-gas ecosystems. The key digital solutions used in the oil and gas sector include artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, smart materials, digital twins, robotics, drones, blockchain, and other emerging technologies. The article main aims to research the existing condition of digital transformations in oil and gas sector, analyze utilization capabilities of DTs and potential risks. The literature review shows that digital transformation is widely used to effectively organize oil and gas industry activities and increase management effectiveness. Despite the implementation of DTs, determining the next steps to be taken due to technological changes remains one of the key challenges. The article studies the directions of digital transformation in the oil and gas industry and analyses development strategies in this direction in thematic research and case studies. The reasons for the effectiveness of DTs include increasing production efficiency, lower production costs, faster management decision-making, improving the quality of applied solutions, and so on. The article reviews selection of DTs in oil-gas sector based on a multi-criteria decision-making method and conducts experimental evaluation. Risks caused by digital transformation are studied, advantages and disadvantages of development of DTs in oil and gas industry are demonstrated. Considering the findings of existing studies, along with the associated advantages and potential risks, there is a clear need to further explore the application of DTs in complex fields such as the oil and gas industry. Keywords: digital transformation; digital technology; oil-gas industry; artificial intelligence; internet of things; digital platform.