Oil rush: Technology firms stampede to woo the energy industry
石油熱: 科技公司爭先恐後地爭取能源產業的垂青
A GIANT HOTEL in Houston teemed with oil-and-gas executives on March 11th, the start of a CERAWeek. IHS Markit, a research firm which organised the shindig, lined up America’s energy secretary, the chief executives of BP and Chevron (two of the world’s largest oil companies), and other luminaries. Among the dark suits was an open-collared newcomer: Andy Jassy, head of Amazon Web Services. Speaking to a vast ballroom, he extolled the cloud-computing giant’s virtues of moving quickly and learning from failure. Mr Jassy was there not just to offer management advice to what were once the world’s most valuable companies. He was also after their custom.
上月11日，劍橋能源周（CERAWeek）開幕，油氣企業高管雲集休斯頓一家大型酒店。這個由研究公司IHS Markit組織的盛大聚會邀請到了衆多名人，包括美國能源部長，以及全球最大的兩家石油公司英國石油（BP）和雪佛龍的首席執行官。在一衆身着深色西裝的與會者當中，有一位敞着領口的新面孔：亞馬遜雲服務平臺AWS的主管安迪·雅西（Andy Jassy）。面對碩大的會場，他盛讚這個雲計算巨頭行動迅速以及能從失敗中學習的優點。雅西參會並不僅僅是爲了向各家曾經的全球最高市值公司提供管理建議。他還想和它們做生意。
Energy companies are keen to produce oil and gas more efficiently, as they grapple with volatile prices and uncertain long-term demand. Digital investments promise to cut costs and boost output. Tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet, as well as a clutch of startups, want to help. For all of Silicon Valley’s professed support for clean power over fossil fuels, the energy industry represents a huge opportunity. Oil companies’ valuations are dwarfed by tech firms’, but their coffers remain deep (see chart).
能源企業要努力應對價格波動和長期需求充滿變數的局面，因而迫切想提高油氣生產效率。數字投資有望降低成本、提高產量。亞馬遜、微軟和Alphabet這樣的科技巨頭以及一小批創業公司希望能助它們一臂之力。儘管硅谷聲稱自己倡導的是清潔電能而不是化石燃料，但能源產業蘊藏着巨大的商機。石油公司的估值遠不及科技公司，但它們的錢袋子始終是鼓鼓的（見圖表）。
Countless industries claim that big data and artificial intelligence (AI) will usher in new prosperity. The trend in oil and gas is nevertheless notable, partly because it is marked, partly because it comes late. For years, many companies remained focused on increasing reserves of oil, not extracting it cost-efficiently. Managers struggled to use data siloed in different parts of the company or in different parts of the world.
聲稱大數據及人工智能（AI）將爲自己帶來新繁榮的行業數不勝數。不過油氣行業的動向值得關注，一方面是因爲該行業地位昭然，一方面也因爲它在採用新技術方面慢了一步。多年來，很多公司仍舊專注於提高石油儲量，而不是用符合成本效益的方法開採石油。管理者也難以利用那些孤立地分散在公司不同部門或世界各地的數據。
That is changing. Abundant shale oil has made the hunt for reserves less urgent than the need to protect profits. Shale also highlights the utility of new analytics, says Paul Goyden of BCG, a consultancy, as data gush from thousands of wells studded through Texas, North Dakota and other rich fields. Falling costs of sensors, storage and computing power have made digital investments even more attractive.
情形正在改變。有了豐富的頁岩油儲備後，探尋儲備的緊迫性就落在了保護利潤的需要之後。波士頓諮詢公司（BCG）的保羅·戈伊登（Paul Goyden）表示，隨着遍佈德州、北達科他州和其他儲量豐富的油田的成千上萬個油井產生出大量數據，頁岩油還突顯出新分析方法的實用性。傳感器、存儲和計算成本的下降更是增加了數字投資的吸引力。
Early projects are starting to bring results. BP is combining real-time information from sensors with its own models and analytics to optimise output—it estimates such digital tools boosted oil production by more than 30,000 barrels per day last year. Yuri Sebregts, the chief technology officer for Shell, says it could take months for a geoscientist to map faults underground. Software can now sort through seismic data, performing the same task in a few hours for about $20.
早期項目已開始開花結果。BP正將來自傳感器的實時信息與自己的模型和分析方法相結合，以優化產出。它估計，這樣的數字工具去年令石油日產量增加超過三萬桶。殼牌的首席技術官尤里·賽博雷茨（Yuri Sebregts）說，一名地球學家測繪地下斷層可能要耗時數月。如今軟件可以查看並整理地震數據，短短几個小時便可完成同樣的任務，成本約20美元。
As such efforts ramp up, energy firms are pairing in-house expertise with that of the tech industry. Microsoft has courted them the longest. In February ExxonMobil announced that its sprawling shale operations in the Permian basin, in Texas, would use Microsoft’s cloud, AI and other services. That may help ExxonMobil to drill and deploy staff more efficiently, and limit methane leaks. Amazon is trying to catch up. The size of its oil-and-gas team has tripled in recent years, and the company is working with energy giants such as Halliburton and Shell. In Houston it showed off data-storage kit that was continuously showered with water, to prove its mettle in inhospitable oilfields.
隨着能源企業加大力度採用這類工具和技術，它們開始讓本行業和科技行業各自的專長“強強聯手”。微軟追逐它們的時間最久。2月，埃克森美孚宣佈，其位於德州二疊紀盆地的龐大頁岩油項目將採用微軟的雲、AI以及其他服務。這也許能幫助該公司更高效地鑽取石油和部署人員，並控制甲烷泄露。亞馬遜正在努力追趕。近些年其油氣團隊的規模已擴張至原來的三倍，且正與哈里伯頓（Halliburton）和殼牌等能源巨頭合作。在休斯頓，它展示了持續被淋水的數據存儲套件，以證明該設備無懼油田的惡劣環境。
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is a relative laggard, but hopes to change that. Last year Google Cloud hired Darryl Willis, a former BP executive, to lead a new energy group. He estimates that the industry is using 1-5% of available data. Alphabet has signed deals with Total of France, as well as Anadarko, an American oil company that is testing automated drilling and has an AI specialist on its board of directors.
谷歌母公司Alphabet的行動相對滯後，但希望改變局面。去年，谷歌雲聘請了前BP高管達里爾·威利斯（Darryl Willis）來領導一個新的能源團隊。他估計能源行業利用了1%到5%的可用數據。Alphabet已與法國的道達爾和美國石油公司阿納達科（Anadarko）簽訂協議。阿納達科正在測試自動化鑽探，其董事會裏還有一位AI專家。
Energy companies feel somewhat jittery about working with large tech firms—and not just because the Silicon Valley stars have outshone them. Automation raises the risk of hacking. Tech firms’ ballooning ambitions raise eyebrows. One questioner asked Mr Jassy if Amazon would itself start producing oil and gas. He said no, as the room giggled nervously.
能源企業對於和大型科技公司合作還是懷揣幾分不安。原因不僅僅是硅谷明星們的光芒蓋過了它們。自動化增加了被黑客攻擊的風險。而科技公司日益膨脹的野心也引人側目。一名提問者問雅西，亞馬遜自己會不會開始生產石油和天然氣。會場內發出一陣不安的輕笑聲。他說不會。
It is not just the oilmen who are uneasy about the partnerships. Amazon, Microsoft and Google rely on clever young coders, who dislike working for controversial industries. “We are a partner and we follow the energy partner’s needs,” says Caglayan Arkan, who oversees Microsoft’s work with the energy sector. But in February Microsoft employees demanded that it cancel a contract to sell augmented-reality headsets to America’s military. Last year Google decided not to renew a contract with the Pentagon, after some staff argued the company should not be in the “business of war”. Tech workers may yet insist they not be in the business of fossil fuels either.
對這種合作關係感到不自在的不止石油商。亞馬遜、微軟和谷歌靠的是年輕有爲的程序員，而這些人不喜歡爲有爭議的行業工作。“我們作爲合作伙伴，要遵照能源合作伙伴的需求行事。”微軟的卡格拉雅恩·阿爾肯（Caglayan Arkan）說。他負責監督微軟與能源行業的合作。但在2月，微軟的員工要求公司取消向美國軍方出售增強現實頭戴設備的合同。去年，谷歌一部分員工指出谷歌不應參與“戰爭生意”，隨後該公司決定不與五角大樓續訂合同。科技從業者可能也會堅持自己不參與化石燃料的生意。