New efforts will focus on increased
cybersecurity, as digital technologies expose refiners to greater
risk
Nearly two-thirds of refiners plan to increase their investments
in digital technologies over the next three to five years, although
digital is not one of the top plant investment areas for refiners
today, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN).
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The Connected Refinery (Graphic: Business
Wire)
The Accenture Connected Refinery research – based on a survey of
more than 200 executives, functional leaders and engineers at
refiners globally – shows that more than half of respondents (57
percent) said that their current level of digital investment
overall was more or significantly more than 12 months ago.
While this spending is set to increase, only 19 percent of
refiners rated digital as one of their top three priorities for
spending on plant efficiency and productivity over the next three
years.
When asked to identify the most important benefits that digital
technologies will provide, respondents most often cited
more-effective plant management (63 percent of respondents),
reducing operational risk (59 percent) and more-efficient and
predictive maintenance (54 percent).
Reducing operational costs appeared most frequently in the top
three business priorities that will drive refiners’ next digital
investments, cited by 39 percent of respondents, yet the most
frequently mentioned barrier to digital implementation was the
investment required, cited by 50 percent of respondents.
“Investments in digital technology, when deployed at scale, can
generate operational savings far exceeding the investment costs,
even in the short term,” said Andrew Smart, the managing director
who leads Accenture’s Energy practice. “The fact that refiners plan
to spend more on digital shows that they are cautiously optimistic
about the incremental benefits to operations that new digital
technologies can provide. While there is also concern about the
cost of deploying these new solutions, leveraging big data and
analytics for real-time operational insights could help refiners
achieve best-in-class operational performance.”
Tracey Countryman, managing director, Asset and Operations
Services, Accenture, said, “Now that computing power is cheaper
than ever and mobile and Internet of Things solutions are more
viable, refiners must move beyond simply piloting new digital
technologies and into deployment at scale to see the benefits of
digital. They will then recognize the significant reduction in
operating costs and the potential for fundamental business
transformation that these technologies can enable.”
Increase in digital investments prompts data security
concerns
When asked to identify the digital technologies that drive the
greatest impact in operational performance, respondents most often
cited analytics (74 percent), cybersecurity (41 percent) and
mobility (38 percent). The inclusion of cybersecurity among the top
three suggests that companies are seeking to offset the greater
risk of cyberattack that comes with more-connected refinery
operations. Some of the current and future planned business
investment areas that increase this connectivity include more
automation, moving operations to the cloud, mobile solutions, AI
and robotics.
“As the number of connected systems and devices that share data
in the energy value chain continues to grow, so does the scale and
impact of any potential cyberattack risk,” Countryman said.
“Historically, refinery execution and control systems have been on
premise, locally maintained and fairly isolated compared with
enterprise systems. With increases in wireless infrastructures
connecting people and connecting machines, and manufacturing
execution system applications moving to cloud, new operational
technology security measures are required.”
Showing the need for new measures, more than one-third (36
percent) of respondents cited data security as a barrier to
adoption of digital technologies; this figure rose to 50 percent
among IT professionals surveyed.
The concern about cybersecurity is also reflected in Accenture
Technology Vision 2017. When asked how often their organization
updates its security policies and codes, respondents from the
downstream sector said they updated them more frequently than
other industries (yearly or less than yearly).
Methodology
The online survey was conducted in March 2017 by PennEnergy
Research in partnership with the Oil and Gas Journal. The survey
was developed with HSB Solomon Associates LLC, a benchmarking and
global advisory services company for the global energy industry.
Respondents are subscribers to PennWell publications and comprised
more than 200 refining industry professionals, including executive
and mid-level management, business unit heads, engineers and
project managers from a cross-segment of the industry. The
countries represented were Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh,
Canada, China, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Finland, Ghana, Greece,
India, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, South
Korea, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, the U.K., the U.S.
and Venezuela.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries
and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest
delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business
and technology to help clients improve their performance and create
sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 401,000
people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
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AccentureGuy Cantwell, +1 281 900
9089guy.cantwell@accenture.comorMatt Corser, +44 755 784
9009matthew.corser@accenture.com
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