JULY 2016CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM8The global oil and gas industry continues to face a lower-for-longer oil price environment that has challenged energy companies and their supporting businesses. "Some in the industry, including Hess, have discovered through technology an opportunity for positive transformation," says Zhanna Golodryga, SVP, Services and CIO at Hess Corporation. "Three principals have guided our company: Preserve the strength of our balance sheet, operating capabilities and long-term growth options," Golodryga explains. By adhering to that disciplined approach, she says Hess has been able to use the slower pace in production and exploration as an opportunity to focus on process and efficiency improvements. "Technology has been an enabler in improving operations performance and reducing cycle time."Golodryga admits that her industry fell behind in applying the advantages of cloud and other technological innovations. "We had not taken enough advantage of big data, for example," she says, "but now is the time to become leaders in some parts of the space, not to just look at technology as a path forward."Golodryga, who joined Hess in 2012 after more than a decade at BHP Billiton Petroleum, says Hess began leveraging the power of big data two years ago at its North Dakota Bakken operations and is now applying it in the company's drilling operations and offshore business. "We are making data-driven decisions, a leap forward from making decisions based on perceptions, exceptions or personal points of view."She says the company has been actively migrating to the cloud, beginning two years ago when Hess divested its downstream business and has continued moving volumes of applications and data to cloud services--a decision that has added agility, efficiency and cost savings.In the area of productivity, Golodryga says Hess is keen to make further use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) and the embedded electronics, software, sensors Transformational Technology and network connectivity known as the Internet of Things."When you have sensors in place and you are able to collect massive amounts of data, you then have the opportunity to use the data to improve up-time and reduce non-productive and cycle time."This is the future," she says. "We're working very closely with By Zhanna Golodryga, SVP, Services & CIO, Hess Corporation. In My Opinion
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