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Tribune News Network
DOHA
The current oil and gas prices signal the time for Qatar's energy firms to invest in technology innovation to drive $540 billion worth of projects, industry experts said.
Qatar is the world's largest exporter of LNG, accounting for $57 billion in annual exports, and is at the forefront of natural gas-to-liquids technology, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
"Qatar's energy firms have the potential to be global leaders in using technology to drive business innovation," said Gergi Abboud, Managing Director of the Gulf for global technology company SAP.
"Real-time insights can transform the procurement process with the depth, accuracy, and transparency to deliver projects on time and on budget," he said.
The Middle East hosts a $540 billion pipeline of oil and gas capital projects, according to a recent PWC report. Oil and gas companies are increasingly turning to technology to enhance project time and budgets, especially with the Brent crude oil price rebounding to about $45/barrel.
Middle East and Qatar's energy firms can use real-time insights to manage production, maintenance, engineering, financials and develop long-term budgets that save time, money and resources.
Worldwide, many oil and gas firms are using the cloud-based Ariba Network to enhance procurement, with up to 30 percent savings by managing spending and suppliers, the financial supply chain, and e-commerce. Ariba, the world's largest business network, traded $740 billion in commerce in 2015.
Demonstrating Ariba's potential in energy, American waste management firm Clean Harbors Inc has used Ariba to increase e-commerce by 48 percent, and reduce invoicing costs by nearly one-third.
On Ariba, Clean Harbors Inc counts $216 billion in transaction spend with 30,000 customers.
Worldwide, more than 800 oil and gas companies are using SAP solutions, including 85 percent of the Forbes 2000 oil and gas companies.
