Top Challenges and Benefits of Implementing RPA in the O&G Industry

The oil and gas industry is one of the most heavily regulated sectors. It has a huge impact on the country’s political and economic situation. As a result, the O&G industry offers many opportunities and throws challenges toward entrepreneurs across the world. In this article, we will dig deep into the role of RPA services in the oil and gas industry along with some implementation challenges.

Let’s start with the basics.

What is RPA in Oil and Gas Sector?

Robotic Process Automation, aka RPA, is a revolutionary technology. This concept can bring automation in oil industry, gas industry, and the energy sector as a whole. RPA not only automates repetitive processes but also increases the productivity of the O&G company. As per the latest report on RPA from Gartner, implementation of RPA can reduce operational costs by a third for any enterprise, and the oil company is no exception!

Robotic process automation for oil and gas is helpful in the faster accomplishment of tasks with more efficiency. A reputed RPA solution provider can make it possible by ensuring a seamless integration of RPA into existing business systems and applications. When we utilize RPA in the network of oil pipelines, it can optimize monitoring and maintenance processes to increase efficiency. In a way, RPA is helpful in improving pipeline management.

The RPA technology can handle various operations of the Oil and Gas companies when done right. It has a vital role to play in bringing automation into the supply chain and even invoicing and trading processes. Companies can consider RPA services to automate bulk processes that are repetitive and time-consuming. Adoption of RPA in oil and gas sector can make various processes quicker and more cost-effective.

RPA can save the time and effort of humans that they can use in other productive activities. A leading energy company based in Detroit has saved around one-quarter million man-hours annually by adopting RPA and bringing automation to oil and gas industry. Let’s go through some of the major benefits of RPA services in the oil and gas sector.

What are the benefits of RPA Services in the Gas Industry?

Apart from saving operational costs, RPA solutions can offer many benefits to the oil and gas sector. Some of these benefits include-

• Increased Productivity

RPA can automate repetitive and manual tasks, allowing employees to focus on more strategic and value-added work.

• Improved Accuracy

RPA can increase accuracy by reducing the chances of human errors. Automation makes it possible for the O&G company.

• Better Compliance

RPA can help companies ensure effective compliance by automating tasks that are subject to various regulatory requirements.

• Enhanced Decision-making

RPA works with other technologies like AI and Big Data to help you improve decision-making by providing access to real-time data and insights..

• More Agility

RPA can help o&g companies to be more agile by quickly and easily adapting to changes in the market and effective decision-making.

• Higher Safety

RPA services can assist the oil and gas industry in increasing safety by automating hazardous or complex tasks for humans.

Following RPA use cases in the O&G sector cast more light on these benefits.

Use cases of RPA in the Gas Industry

As RPA can handle daily tasks that are based on rules and repetitive in nature, here we mention a couple of use cases of it.

Production Accounting in a Joint Venture

Problem

Every day, the accounting department had to spend several hours on joint venture production accounting tasks such as

• Expense calculations
• Receivables
• Gas adjustments
• Income distribution

Solution

Software bots automate these accounting tasks, allowing the accounting department to focus on more strategic activities. Bots can handle repetitive and time-consuming tasks including data entry and calculations. This can save the accounting department a significant amount of time and money.

Monitoring and Reporting of Well Construction

Problem

The team working on a well-construction project spent several hours in collecting data and making reports. This includes reports from external geology sources and from the project team. This daily process was necessary to make proper project forecasts.

Solution

Customized RPA bots automate the information preparation, examination, and analysis for well construction projects. These bots can collect information from various sources, such as the project team, and the project's ERP system. The bots can then analyze this information and generate accurate reports that are tailored to the specific needs of the project.

Here it is fair to mention that though RPA is highly beneficial for the O&G sector, companies need to address some challenges to get the advantage of this futuristic technology.

  Read more: How Artificial Intelligence Transforms RPA Services in Coming Years

Challenges & Future of Implementing RPA in the Gas Industry

Here we mention some of the challenges that keep companies to bring automation in the oil and gas industry.

Legacy Systems

Still, many oil and gas companies rely on legacy systems that were not designed with RPA in mind. It makes it difficult to integrate customized RPA bots without causing disruption or making changes in the underlying architecture.

Security Concerns

Some organizations are concerned about the security implications of RPA. They worry that RPA bots could be hacked or used to introduce malware into their systems. However, RPA solutions can be implemented with security measures such as multi-tenancy, privileged access, etc.

Lack of Expertise

There is a shortage of skilled RPA professionals in the oil and gas sector. This can make it difficult to find qualified people to manage and maintain RPA solutions. However, there are a number of training programs available that can help to bridge this skills gap.

In addition to these challenges, a number of factors including increasing complexity and demand for data-driven decision-making could impact the implementation of RPA technology in the oil and gas sector. However, the future of RPA technology in this sector looks promising. RPA can help oil companies to improve their efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

Use RPA To Improve Customer Service In The Energy Sector

Automation in the oil industry can help to manage customer demand in multiple ways. For example, you can use an RPA system to evaluate new customer applications and automatically contact the customer if there are any errors. This gives customers faster service and frees up your customer service staff for inquiries that require a human touch. Also, automating routine tasks can free up your customer service staff to focus on more complex and challenging tasks.

By automating customer service tasks, oil and gas companies can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their customer service operations. As a result, you can increase customer satisfaction and gain their loyalty.

Why is Silver Touch preferred for RPA Consultancy in Oil and Gas?

Implementing robotic process automation in an oil and gas industry may seem challenging, but ultimately it is rewarding in many ways. As a reputed RPA services provider, Silver Touch helps you to bring automation to the oil and gas industry while addressing various challenges. The in-house team of experienced developers can build custom RPA solutions for your O&G business at competitive rates.

Silver Touch Technologies has over two decades of experience in making feature-rich IT solutions. Integrating advancements of emerging technologies including AI and ML in its tailored business solutions is possible for Silver Touch. As a leading automation and digital transformation solutions provider, Silver Touch is a preferred consultant for leveraging the benefits of RPA in the oil and gas industry.

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