When we started gathering our research from SAP customers in the oil and gas industry in late 2019 for this report, we had no idea what kind of disruption was coming to this business. Certainly, oil and gas companies are accustomed to fluctuations in oil prices driven by market demands, production levels, and geopolitical risk—among other factors. But I don’t think many could have predicted the first-ever drop to negative oil prices in late April 2020.
What’s Essential for SAP Oil and Gas Customers
Oil prices will, no doubt, rebound once travel restrictions begin to ease and the business world adjusts to the new rules of operation post-COVID-19. But what looks to be a rocky rest of the year will put oil and gas companies under pressure to make some tough decisions about which technology projects they will be able to move forward with and which ones they will need to put on hold.
ASUG believes that SAP customers will have to move forward with their
most critical technology initiatives. And we are seeing that most SAP
customers across industries are not cancelling their planned technology
initiatives yet. The weekly ASUG Pulse Check survey
found that, as of April 24, 48% of respondents said they are not
cancelling their planned initiatives and 33% are cancelling just a few
planned initiatives.
Yes, organizations are working to conserve cash in any way they can. But the reality is that technology may be the best way for many oil and gas businesses to survive by making data-driven decisions and by operating in the most efficient ways possible.
Digital Transformation Hits the Accelerator
SAP oil and gas customers have told us in our 2019 and 2020 research that they have been working hard to digitally transform. They see this transformation as a path to better-quality data, automated processes, a move to the cloud, and change management to support the adoption of new technology across the business including in the field. All of these advancements have become more important now than ever.
Get a Recap of ASUG Oil and Gas Research
We believe there are many useful insights in this report that will remain relevant—even if they more accurately reflect what SAP oil and gas customers will be doing in 2021 and beyond. We encourage you to find out how your peers are thinking of digital transformation. And we invite you to listen to our on-demand webcast, The State of the Oil and Gas Industry in 2020: A Research Recap, where we caught up with Jennifer W. Stevens, information technology program manager at Marathon Oil Corporation, on how the business is using technology to remain resilient.
Download our complete 2020 research report, The State of the Oil and Gas Industry. Don’t miss your opportunity to hear about trends in the industry from other oil and gas SAP customers at our virtual experience ASUG Best Practices: SAP for Industries in
September.
