Fujitsu: reimagining energy’s portfolio optimisation

In our previous article, we explored Fujitsu’s recently released whitepaper to ascertain how it’s enabling the energy sector’s digital transformation.

The company elucidated that COVID-19 had emphasised the necessity of agility and flexibility to drive optimal performance in the deployment of workers and resources, as well as the possibilities of quantum-inspired computing to improve profit, save costs, mitigate delays and generate new revenue streams.

Now, we explore how Fujitsu is helping energy companies maximise their asset portfolio optimisation and forging an economically more sustainable industry in the process.

Optimising asset portfolios

In an effort to enhance forecasting and decision-making, improvements within the industry focused on developing greater visibility or a ‘single pane of glass’ perspective across various asset silos were already under consideration before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet these updates were hampered by industry investment focused disproportionately on production. Furthermore, manually-driven processes were typically overly complicated and lacked the surety of data-centric computer-driven systems.

In fact, a recent article by Total highlighted that recent weaknesses in hydrocarbon investment exacerbated by the pandemic, the drop in oil prices and other factors have reaped an “exceptional asset impairment charge of $2.6bn” in Q2 of 2020.

Referencing the numerous inefficiencies that were present in the energy industry, Fujitsu’s whitepaper says, “As long as companies could deploy enough people and equipment to keep producing, there was little urgency for more fundamental change.”

However, in the wake of COVID-19, companies have reassessed their approach; large asset portfolios do not inherently result in competitive differentiation. Instead, a shift from ‘production’ to ‘dividends’ has refocused the industry on asset balancing and maximising stakeholder ROI. This could include:

• Grouping assets into manageable divisions of shared risk factors
• More careful consideration of when and where to invest
• Establishing a commitment to data-driven, technologically-advanced processes

Well-placement optimisation

For oil and gas companies, it should be noted that exploration-phase wells have improved markedly in the last half-century. However, this is not to say that the potential for greater optimisation doesn’t exist. 

Indeed, challenges surrounding finding the optimal drilling location and well sequencing persist, problems which are compounded by increasingly complex asset/resource interdependencies. 

Fujitsu’s quantum-inspired Digital Annealer (which we explored in our last article) is a prime example of a tech-based solution that can drive transformational results for well optimisation: “the solution can evaluate multiple potential options simultaneously and deliver lightning-fast insights.”

Fujitsu: advocating true sustainability

In many ways, well optimisation encapsulates the fact that inefficiency within energy isn’t just a monetary detriment but an environmental one too, as each failed operation expends CO2. Thus, Fujitsu states, sustainability should be fully considered in every sense moving forward.

With new asset types projected to “increase at a 50% growth rate” up to 2050 and escalating hunger for renewable energy sources to become more prevalent (Fujitsu estimates only 4% of global power is generated via solar or wind at this time), the industry must critically evaluate itself regarding modern geopolitical changes, regulatory restrictions and the increased viability of clean-energy alternatives.

“We offer a combination of next-generation technology assets and services, deep domain expertise and industry-leading commitment to building a sustainable society that few other companies can match,” says the whitepaper. 

“We can help you harness new digital capabilities to optimise your operations and accelerate your path to renewable energy sources. You can move your business to a more sustainable footing—for your shareholders, your employees, and society at large.”

Image sourced from Fujitsu Media Portal