Oil rush: Technology firms stampede to woo the energy industry
石油热: 科技公司争先恐后地争取能源产业的垂青
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，剑桥能源周（CERAWeek）开幕，油气企业高管云集休斯顿一家大型酒店。这个由研究公司IHS Markit组织的盛大聚会邀请到了众多名人，包括美国能源部长，以及全球最大的两家石油公司英国石油（BP）和雪佛龙的首席执行官。在一众身着深色西装的与会者当中，有一位敞着领口的新面孔：亚马逊云服务平台AWS的主管安迪·雅西（Andy Jassy）。面对硕大的会场，他盛赞这个云计算巨头行动迅速以及能从失败中学习的优点。雅西参会并不仅仅是为了向各家曾经的全球最高市值公司提供管理建议。他还想和它们做生意。
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).
能源企业要努力应对价格波动和长期需求充满变数的局面，因而迫切想提高油气生产效率。数字投资有望降低成本、提高产量。亚马逊、微软和Alphabet这样的科技巨头以及一小批创业公司希望能助它们一臂之力。尽管硅谷声称自己倡导的是清洁电能而不是化石燃料，但能源产业蕴藏着巨大的商机。石油公司的估值远不及科技公司，但它们的钱袋子始终是鼓鼓的（见图表）。
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.
声称大数据及人工智能（AI）将为自己带来新繁荣的行业数不胜数。不过油气行业的动向值得关注，一方面是因为该行业地位昭然，一方面也因为它在采用新技术方面慢了一步。多年来，很多公司仍旧专注于提高石油储量，而不是用符合成本效益的方法开采石油。管理者也难以利用那些孤立地分散在公司不同部门或世界各地的数据。
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.
情形正在改变。有了丰富的页岩油储备后，探寻储备的紧迫性就落在了保护利润的需要之后。波士顿咨询公司（BCG）的保罗·戈伊登（Paul Goyden）表示，随着遍布德州、北达科他州和其他储量丰富的油田的成千上万个油井产生出大量数据，页岩油还突显出新分析方法的实用性。传感器、存储和计算成本的下降更是增加了数字投资的吸引力。
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.
早期项目已开始开花结果。BP正将来自传感器的实时信息与自己的模型和分析方法相结合，以优化产出。它估计，这样的数字工具去年令石油日产量增加超过三万桶。壳牌的首席技术官尤里·赛博雷茨（Yuri Sebregts）说，一名地球学家测绘地下断层可能要耗时数月。如今软件可以查看并整理地震数据，短短几个小时便可完成同样的任务，成本约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.
随着能源企业加大力度采用这类工具和技术，它们开始让本行业和科技行业各自的专长“强强联手”。微软追逐它们的时间最久。2月，埃克森美孚宣布，其位于德州二叠纪盆地的庞大页岩油项目将采用微软的云、AI以及其他服务。这也许能帮助该公司更高效地钻取石油和部署人员，并控制甲烷泄露。亚马逊正在努力追赶。近些年其油气团队的规模已扩张至原来的三倍，且正与哈里伯顿（Halliburton）和壳牌等能源巨头合作。在休斯顿，它展示了持续被淋水的数据存储套件，以证明该设备无惧油田的恶劣环境。
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的行动相对滞后，但希望改变局面。去年，谷歌云聘请了前BP高管达里尔·威利斯（Darryl Willis）来领导一个新的能源团队。他估计能源行业利用了1%到5%的可用数据。Alphabet已与法国的道达尔和美国石油公司阿纳达科（Anadarko）签订协议。阿纳达科正在测试自动化钻探，其董事会里还有一位AI专家。
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.
能源企业对于和大型科技公司合作还是怀揣几分不安。原因不仅仅是硅谷明星们的光芒盖过了它们。自动化增加了被黑客攻击的风险。而科技公司日益膨胀的野心也引人侧目。一名提问者问雅西，亚马逊自己会不会开始生产石油和天然气。会场内发出一阵不安的轻笑声。他说不会。
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.
对这种合作关系感到不自在的不止石油商。亚马逊、微软和谷歌靠的是年轻有为的程序员，而这些人不喜欢为有争议的行业工作。“我们作为合作伙伴，要遵照能源合作伙伴的需求行事。”微软的卡格拉雅恩·阿尔肯（Caglayan Arkan）说。他负责监督微软与能源行业的合作。但在2月，微软的员工要求公司取消向美国军方出售增强现实头戴设备的合同。去年，谷歌一部分员工指出谷歌不应参与“战争生意”，随后该公司决定不与五角大楼续订合同。科技从业者可能也会坚持自己不参与化石燃料的生意。