Conference Alert-Digitalization in Oil and Gas

Too much agreement kills a chat. -- Eldridge Cleaver

The Energy Conference Network (https://energyconferencenetwork.com/ ) has announced the Digitalization in Oil and Gas conference (https://www.digitalizationoilgas.com/23/2647079), scheduled for September 14-15, 2023 in Houston, Texas.

REGISTRANTS include … Aramco, Dow, ExxonMobil, Sabic, Chevron … to name a few.

The conference is organized into FIVE TRACKS … IoT in Oil & Gas, Digital Twins in Oil & Gas, Blockchain in Oil & Gas, Edge Computing Technologies in Oil & Gas, and Connectivity in Oil & Gas.

TIP: View a recent Desulfurization Blog post: Reviews and PDFs (http://desulf.blogspot.com/2023/06/reviews-and-pdfs.html) for a list of free full text articles on the five conference tracks. Pick out one or two in preparation for the conference.

For example:

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Industrial Engineering with Large Language Models: A case study of ChatGPT's performance on Oil & Gas problems
Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown great potential in solving complex problems in various fields, including oil and gas engineering and other industrial engineering disciplines like factory automation, PLC programming etc. However, automatic identification of strong and weak solutions to fundamental physics equations governing several industrial processes remain a challenging task. This paper identifies the limitation of current LLM approaches, particularly ChatGPT in selected practical problems native to oil and gas engineering but not exclusively. The performance of ChatGPT in solving complex problems in oil and gas engineering is discussed and the areas where LLMs are most effective are presented.
Cite as: arXiv:2304.14354
source: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2304.14354
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And here’s another …

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Blockchain in Oil and Gas Supply Chain: A Literature Review from User Security and Privacy Perspective (2023)
International Symposium on Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance
The oil and gas industry grapples with supply chain process challenges and is known to have high risks, significant investments, and large asset volumes. These include (i) tracking extracted resources, (ii) managing equipment and assets, (iii) preventing company data leaks, (iv) managing data, and (v) ensuring process security and integrity. Such issues can result in human errors, misguided decisions due to inaccurate data, inflated operating costs, transaction delays, and fraud. Blockchain technology could provide solutions to some of these problems. For example, it facilitates reliable and secure data storage, ensuring data integrity. Additionally, blockchain-based smart contracts could deter oil trade fraud by automating contract execution when agreement conditions are met. By incorporating blockchain technology, businesses in the oil and gas sector can enhance their operations’ efficiency, transparency, and security, leading to improved decision-making and cost savings.
source: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2306.16576
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Blockchain and Industry 4.0

 “Blockchain is the tech. Bitcoin is merely the first mainstream manifestation of its potential.”—Marc Kenigsberg, founder of Bitcoin Chaser (Thanks to https://bernardmarr.com/23-fascinating-bitcoin-and-blockchain-quotes-everyone-should-read/ )

As a librarian with 40 years of experience in researching technical topics, I confess that I am not an expert on BLOCKCHAIN. However, I am an expert on searching for expert information on any topic, including BLOCKCHAIN.  Which is the whole point of this blog, i.e., helping you refine your online search strategies, no matter what specific technology you are researching.

In the popular imagination, Blockchain is associated with cryptocurrencies. But as Kenigsberg suggests, Blockchain technology has the potential to transform entire industries, beyond Bitcoin.

So here is a taste of what you will find online when you research Blockchain and Industry 4.0.

STEP ONE … what is Blockchain, anyway?

HINT: There are BLOCKS on a CHAIN.

TIP: Google: Blockchain for dummies
One result that made sense to me …
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Blockchain Explained: What is blockchain? | Euromoney Learning
Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system.
A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain. Each block in the chain contains a number of transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that transaction is added to every participant’s ledger. The decentralised database managed by multiple participants is known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
Blockchain is a type of DLT in which transactions are recorded with an immutable cryptographic signature called a hash.
This means if one block in one chain was changed, it would be immediately apparent it had been tampered with. If hackers wanted to corrupt a blockchain system, they would have to change every block in the chain, across all of the distributed versions of the chain.
source: https://www.euromoney.com/learning/blockchain-explained/what-is-blockchain
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STEP TWO: What does Blockchain have to do with Industry 4.0?

Well, again, what the heck is Industry 4.0?

TIP: Google: what is blockchain industry 4.0

I found the following quote helpful …

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Blockchain technology applications for Industry 4.0: A literature-based review
Industry 4.0 involves innovations with upcoming digital technologies, and blockchain is one of them. Blockchain can be incorporated to improve security, privacy, and data transparency both for small and large enterprises. Industry 4.0 is a synthesis of the new production methods that allow manufacturers to achieve their target more rapidly.
source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcra.2021.100027
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STEP THREE: Get specific … how does Blockchain help Industry 4.0?

Here is a description of how Blockchain can be applied to industrial control systems to enhance the ability to withstand cybersecurity attacks …

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Blockchain and Smart Contracts Towards Decentralized Applications in Industry 4.0
Description

Current industrial control systems in the Industry 4.0 era usually suffer from a variety of security issues, and important manufacturing data and instructions are vulnerable to attacks or tampering, for instance, tampering with product performance data during quality inspection. These counterfeit products are then used in many fields, causing unprecedented severe security problems. Another typical event is attacks on companies using viruses, which spread to other equipment and can eventually lead to the shutdown of production lines across factories. These events expose the fragility and weak information security of industrial control systems in the Industry 4.0 era. Current industrial control/management usually relies on a centralized platform, which suffers from inadequate interoperability between heterogeneous equipment, weak collaboration among operations, inadequate traceability of information, and weak robustness against system failures. Implementing tamper-proof security of product lifecycle data and industrial control systems in the Industry 4.0 era is a crucial problem and an essential way to improve transparency and brand credibility.

Blockchain is known as a new generation of secure information technology for realizing business and industrial sustainability. Much research on blockchain-empowered, smart, and sustainable manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 era has been conducted from technical, commercial, organizational, and operational perspectives. However, the progression and promotion of these blockchain applications have been fundamentally impeded by various issues in scalability, flexibility, and cybersecurity. Blockchain-empowered transformation of the manufacturing paradigm is still in its early stages. Many manufacturers have not progressed their blockchain solutions beyond proof-of-concept. Deploying blockchain-based intelligent applications is still difficult for manufacturers. Moving into a new technology space has always been a dilemma for conservative spaces. Challenges in the areas of techniques, social barriers, standards, and regulations impede progress, for example, the development of computationally efficient algorithms for real-time responses, the security of blockchain, and how to build a digital twin of the physical asset in blockchain-based service networks (BSN). Privacy protection issues in blockchain applications are also major concerns for users. There is an urgent need for breakthroughs and innovations in methods, technologies, and platforms for blockchain, smart contracts, and decentralized applications.

This Special Issue aims to collect state-of-the-art blockchain theories, models, methods, intelligent applications, and practical advances for achieving smart and sustainable manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 era, enhanced by advanced cryptographic mechanisms, networking protocols, machine learning techniques, and data analytics.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

    Secure multi-party computing in large-scale blockchain applications
    Robust and highly efficient consensus algorithms
    Formal verification and debugging of smart contracts
    Middleware interfaces for multi-blockchains
    Digital twins of physical assets in the blockchain
    Big data analytics in blockchain applications
    Machine learning algorithms in blockchain applications
    Security models of blockchain
    Decentralized autonomous manufacturing
    Blockchain-secured digital twins
    Smart contract-enabled distributed digital twins
    Blockchain-based smart manufacturing systems
    Blockchain-based product lifecycle management
    Blockchain in Industry 4.0
    Blockchain as a service
source: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/scn/si/459740/
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Wrapping up this post, let me leave you with two additional TIPS …

TIP: When tasked with researching a technology you are not well versed in, find a source that can define the technology in a way that makes sense to you.

FINAL TIP: Use that source to find key words that can help create search strategies for in depth online research.

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at research@jeansteinhardtconsulting.com with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/ to see examples of the services we can provide

A Conference Is Coming! Carbon Tracking and Reporting

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”  -- Native American Proverb (https://curious.earth/ )

Reasonable people acknowledge that the world is experiencing the effects of climate change. And reasonable people recognize that there is money to be made in addressing this challenge. These reasonable people include corporations, like Aramco, Baker Hughes, BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Kinder Morgan, Lyondell Basell, Marathon Oil, Mitsubishi, and Shell.

Each of these corporations is an attending organization in the Carbon Tracking & Reporting Conference March 29-30, 2023, Houston, TX (https://carbontrackingandreporting.energyconferencenetwork.com/ )

Anyone playing the long game in the energy transition arena will want to consider attending this conference.

TIP: When you visit the Web page describing the Carbon Tracking & Reporting Conference, click on their link for the Post Event Report for the March 2022 conference in Houston, Texas … or, click on the link below:
https://energyconferencenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022-Carbon-Tracking-Reporting-PSR.pdf

The Report includes a list of speakers. One conference topic that jumped out at me was blockchain. Two speakers on the topic were …

Gino Valverde
CFO and Head of ESG Product Development
Blockchain For Energy

and

Raj Rapaka
Upstream Digital Transformation Advisor /
Board Member ExxonMobil /
Blockchain For Energy
source: https://carbontrackingandreporting.energyconferencenetwork.com/

TIP: An easy way to dip your toe into the blockchain stream is to Google® the phrase blockchain for energy.

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at research@jeansteinhardtconsulting.com with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/ to see examples of the services we can provide

Conference alert: 4th Annual Blockchain in Oil & Gas Virtual Conference

In a Word: Virtue in the Virtual: Does a virtual reality by definition, or at least by etymology, have virtue? -- Andy Hollandbeck, Saturday Evening Post, April 9, 2020

The 4th Annual Blockchain in Oil & Gas Conference (www.blockchain-oilandgas.com/) has gone virtual, as have so many other conferences in the Covid era.

Here is a description of the conference, taken from the conference Web site …

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4th Annual Blockchain in Oil & Gas Virtual Conference
September 17th - 18th, 2020
We Are Pleased To Announce The 2020 Conference Will Be Virtual - For The First Time Giving Companies Across The Globe Access To Ideas And Case Studies That Will Redefine The Energy Industry
Join the oil and gas blockchain ecosystem to learn, network, innovate, and strategize to maximize your technology investments
Operators, EPCs, and industry stakeholders need to increase their level of awareness and understanding of blockchain.  As shown in ongoing pilots, blockchain is being applied to oil trading, ticketing and land rights - with many more applications being investigated.
The Blockchain Hype Has A Solid Foundation
In partnership with the Oil and Gas Blockchain Consortium, composed of giants of the industry such as ConocoPhillips, Shell, Equinor, Marathon Oil Corporation, Chevron, Hess, Repsol, Pioneer Natural Resources, Noble Energy and ExxonMobil, this year's conference will again explore ways to tap into the transformative properties of blockchain technology, to streamline operations and increase productivity.
The energy sector is one of the foundations of today’s modern society. On the way to greener and more efficient systems, blockchain technology will play a significant role in optimization and cost efficiency boosting of the whole market.
The Oil & Gas industry continues to operate in challenging times with compressed margins, reduced resources and funding and an ever pressing need to find, extract, produce, and refine hydrocarbons more cost effectively.
Blockchain is part of the solution.
WHY ATTEND
CONNECT with the world’s most trusted community of oil and gas blockchain thought leaders
DISCOVER the latest ideas, research, strategies, best practices and case studies
NETWORK with your peers from oil and gas operators  and service companies through the conference online networking platform
EXPERIENCE the presentations live, or on-demand after the event - for your convenience
INTERACT with speakers, partners, insiders and solution providers in the interactive exhibition zone 
Event Partner
Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium (https://www.oocblockchain.com/)
source: https://www.blockchain-oilandgas.com/
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By way of background, OOC stands for Offshore Operators Committee.

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The OOC Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium was founded to advance industry blockchain learnings for the purpose of transforming the way the industry interacts in business externally and to drive industry standards, frameworks and capabilities around emerging blockchain technology. The consortium was established under the not-for-profit organization Offshore Operators Committee and offers membership-based participation.
source: https://www.hartenergy.com/companies/ooc-oil-gas-blockchain-consortium
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TIP: For more background, Google®: blockchain chevron

One result …

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Helen Partz
Mar 01, 2019
ExxonMobil, Chevron and Five Others Form Global Oil and Gas Blockchain Consortium
Seven global oil and gas firms including ExxonMobil and Chevron formed Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium.
18323 Total views
225 Total shares
Listen to article
1:47
ExxonMobil, Chevron and Five Others Form Global Oil and Gas Blockchain Consortium
News
Seven global oil and gas firms, including American industry giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, have partnered to form a blockchain consortium, according to a press release on Feb. 26.
The so-called Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium, residing under the Offshore Operators Committee (OOC), intends to conduct proofs of concept (PoC) in order to explore and apply the benefits of blockchain, as well as contribute to global adoption of the tech.
According to the press release, the consortium represents the first initiative of its kind in the oil and gas industry in the United States.
The founding members include Chevron and ExxonMobil, two of the world’s top 10 largest oil and gas companies, based on  2017 revenues of $237 billion and $134 billion respectively. The OOC board also includes U.S.-based ConocoPhillips, Pioneer Natural Resources, Hess, Norwegian Equinor, and Spanish Repsol.
Rebecca Hofmann, chairman of the OOC board of directors, said that creating the consortium is an important step towards establishing a basis for blockchain-oriented standards, frameworks and capabilities for the oil and gas industry.
On Feb. 25, Vakt, a blockchain-enabled, post-trade platform for oil, signed up four new clients, joining initial supporters, which include BP, Shell and Total, as well as industry giants Chevron, Equinor and Reliance Industries. Designed to improve commodity trading and reduce paperwork, Vakt was launched in November 2018.
Earlier in February, former JPMorgan Chase exec Etienne Amic was appointed as Vakt’s new CEO, purportedly expected to bring direct his experience in commodities trading to the platform.
source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/exxonmobil-chevron-and-five-others-form-global-oil-and-gas-blockchain-consortium
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/  for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at research@jeansteinhardtconsulting.com  with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/  to see examples of the services we can provid