UPSTREAM OIL AND GAS AND THE FUTURE OF R&D
Upstream research and development (R&D) spending by many international oil companies has decreased significantly over the past two decades. There is also a perception, at least in some quarters, that technology adoption in the upstream is slow relative to that in other industries and that end users are reluctant to pay for the R&D required for new technology. At the CERA 2005 Global Oil Summit The Future E&P Challenge: Growth and Innovation, senior executives from across the industry gathered to discuss these and other issues regarding the status of R&D and innovation in the upstream industry. Observations from the summit include
- There is a lack of consensus that there is a problem. Operators generally believe the innovation environment is healthy, while the service and venture capitalist sectors generally believe there are serious problems.
- Operator R&D will continue its shift toward improving nonconventional resources, such as heavy oil, gas-to-liquids, deepwater oil, etc.
- Structural factors likely will continue to deemphasize basic and applied research at the expense of shorter-term developmental research.
