Currently, some megatrends impacting economic
development and markets globally have been
identified. The population growth within the
emerging markets in contrast to the decline of
some developed economies has led to important
changes in global economic power, implying that
a large demand will be in these new emerging
markets.
These changes in markets, including lack of
resources, suggest major increases in risks and
complexity of projects. In the Oil & Gas industry,
new technologies in search of shale and deep
waters reserves are being developed. In this
context, operational efficiency, a skilled
workforce, effectiveness in supply chain
management and monitoring of costs are even
more important.
Due to increases in regulations on carbon
emissions, coal power plants are being changed
for natural gas power plants.
Manufacturers and petrochemical companies
have also joined this trend, finding lower costs by
using natural gas, which is also more
environmentally friendly.
Thanks to technological developments that allow
shale production on a large scale in United States,
it is becoming possible to achieve energy
independence, and there is a rebirth in the
manufacturing and chemical industry in the
country. As well as the technological
developments of exploratory and pad-drilling,
there is increased use of open-hole completions
and sliding sleeves to reduce completion time and
costs. Cloud-based “digital oilfield” platforms
enable companies to transform data into real
time operational decisions.
Currently Colombia, compared to other South
and Central American countries, has reached
stagnation in production and reserve levels. The
government and private sector are working
together in order to turn around this trend
through new methods to increase recovery and
production factors in the oil fields.