Oil Ministry: Digital Transformation Key to Enhancing Oil Operations Efficiency - Sarmad

The Ministry of Oil confirmed that digital transformation represents one of the fundamental pathways for developing the operational framework within the oil sector, given its advanced capabilities to enhance operational efficiency, improve data accuracy, and accelerate decision-making.

This statement was made by Sheikh Tamadur Khalid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Director of Public Relations and Petroleum Media at the Ministry of Oil, during a virtual panel discussion organized by the ministry on Monday, titled “Kudif: How Are Oil Fields Managed Using Smart Technology?” During the session, she presented the Integrated Kuwait Digital Field (Kudif) project, which is affiliated with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).

Sheikh Tamadur Al-Sabah highlighted that the future of the oil industry is increasingly tied to its ability to leverage modern technology and convert operational data into practical tools that support performance and productivity. She emphasized that investment in both technology and human resources constitutes two integrated pillars for building a more efficient oil sector capable of responding to future challenges.

She noted that KOC places special emphasis on raising awareness about digital projects and smart applications within the oil sector, highlighting national experiences that demonstrate the ability of Kuwaiti technical and engineering expertise to keep pace with technological developments and utilize them to improve the work environment.

She added that the Kudif project represents an important model for practical applications of digital transformation in Kuwait’s oil industry. By integrating data and operational systems into a unified framework, it enables the monitoring of field and well performance and supports coordination among various technical disciplines. This reflects the importance of transitioning from traditional operational management methods to a digital environment based on accurate information and continuous analysis.

For their part, Ahmed Al-Zidan, Chief Petroleum Engineer at KOC, and Abdullah Al-Mousawi, presented the Kudif project under the North and West Kuwait Directorate of KOC. They pointed out that the project aims to provide a smart, proactive system to support decision-making and assist the company in addressing operational challenges and achieving its strategic objectives through collaborative working methods that bring together various technical disciplines.

They clarified that the project aligns with KOC’s 2040 Strategy, which includes developing a digital strategy and implementing a digital transformation framework to achieve operational excellence. This is accomplished by leveraging modern technologies to enhance oil field management, improve operational monitoring efficiency, and analyze data.

They also outlined KOC’s operational areas, which include North Kuwait, West Kuwait, South Kuwait, and East Kuwait, as well as heavy oil and gas operations. They explained the diversity of production facilities, boosting stations, and water facilities, noting that the technical and operational requirements associated with these operations necessitate the presence of integrated digital systems to support monitoring and coordination.

Regarding the historical phases of the project, Al-Zidan and Al-Mousawi stated that the digital transformation journey began with the first workshop in 2007, followed by a pilot implementation phase in 2009 covering 49 wells. This was followed by the establishment of the main center in Ahmadi in 2012.

They recalled that the project underwent successive expansions, with the number of wells included in the system reaching 183 in 2013, rising to 1,200 wells in 2016, and exceeding 2,500 wells in 2022 as part of the expansion phase aimed at covering all wells.

They stated that the project’s journey included the establishment of the field center in Al-Roudhatayn in 2024, before the system’s coverage expanded to encompass more than 5,000 wells in 2025, with an extension of operations in West Kuwait and heavy oil fields, reflecting the gradual development in the scope of applying digital systems within oil operations.

They emphasized that one of the project’s key operational advantages is the ability to analyze various well-related data from multiple sources on a continuous, round-the-clock basis, alongside providing employees at different work locations with access to well performance information and reports on wellheads, pipelines, and production using modern devices and digital applications, while maintaining the confidentiality and accuracy of the information. This contributes to saving time and effort and facilitates access to operational data.

They added that the system is distinguished by its speed in extracting results and reports in various formats tailored to the needs of specialized staff, as well as by providing modern communication tools for monitoring performance and coordinating tasks among the company’s different departments, even in cases where operational sites are distant or information transfer is difficult.

They pointed out that the project relies on a team comprising representatives from various company departments, enabling a unified vision regarding work plans and enhancing coordination among technical disciplines to achieve common objectives.

They clarified that Kuwait Drilling Company (KDC) contributed to reducing costs and improving work quality by organizing the distribution of drilling rigs, which helped lower operational expenses and increased the rigs’ capacity to handle a larger number of wells. It also aided in developing round-the-clock monitoring of wells and production centers by leveraging broader operational data and modern alert systems to detect anomalies in data received from the smart field, thereby enhancing the ability of specialized teams to monitor operations. (End)