CRITICAL ISSUES IN DRILLING & COMPLETIONS
volatile market pricing, upskilling and
retaining our workforce, and attracting
new and diverse talent. It’s really impor-
tant that we have a data strategy that
addresses these challenges and allows us
to meet our business objectives.
With that in mind, I think there are
three things the industry needs to focus
on with data. First, standardization needs
to improve so that we can reduce the time
we spend engineering data and increase
the time we spend analyzing data. Second,
we need to invest in innovating machine
learning and artificial intelligence meth-
ods so that they can fit with more indus-
try-centric datasets and workflows. And
third, we must improve the efficacy of
our data-modeling methods so that they
can give us a more comprehensive under-
standing of our operations.
Eric Hambly, Executive VP at Murphy
Oil, put it best in some of his townhall
presentations: As an industry, if we don’t
learn to adapt our strategies toward data,
we’re going to go extinct. There’s no in-
between. Stepping back to a broader topic ,
we’ve seen the industry significantly
increase its adoption of digital tech-
nologies in recent years. What kind of
value has Murphy Oil derived from
digitalization? Can you provide some
examples of the benefits you’ve seen?
The industry has undergone a shift in
recent years, with more widespread adop-
tion of digital technologies. Murphy is
working to leverage this digitalization to
enhance our operations, and that goes
back to data: In order to really get the
most value out of digitalization, we have
to harness the power of our data as best
as we can.
My vision for innovation to scale up
efficiency in a digital future is reflected
in many initiatives we have at Murphy,
such as enabling a procedure to store
data under different tags by classifying
via fuzzy logic. I also spearheaded an ini-
tiative to digitize our Safety Observation
Program, which has revolutionized our
safety workflow, in my opinion. The initia-
tive also enabled the digitalization of our
onshore operations through our Integrated
Operations Platform program, and I’ve
supported the launch of the Murphy Labs
Apps store, which integrates multidisci-
plinary data with transparency to drive
real-time analytics.
Right now, I’m focused on the inte-
gration of digital solutions like machine
learning and data processing. Overseeing
drilling and completions means that safe-
ty must be at the forefront of any initiative
we undertake, and our approach ensures
that we’re all working as one unified
team. Do you see the industry embracing
the digital mindset as much as it
needs to?
Embracing technology is an ongoing
process, and leaders across the indus-
try have started realizing the benefits of
adopting technology and modernizing
their processes. At Murphy, we recently
implemented a structure to adopt tech-
DRILL DEEPER.
RUN LONGER.
SET RECORDS.
Don’t take our word for it -
the data speaks for itself.
CONNECTION DISCOVER MORE AT
drillpipe.com/settingrecords D R I LLI N G CO N T R ACTO R • JAN UARY/FEB RUARY 2024
www.drillpipe.com 19