Optimization and Big Data Analytics to Improve Profitability and Sustainability of the Oil and Gas Industry

Dear Colleagues,

The oil and gas industry continues to have a great influence in the world, at least for the near foreseeable future.  The industry is usually divided into three sectors: Upstream, midstream, and downstream. The upstream sector involves the exploration and production of petroleum and natural gas including extraction, drilling, and support activities. The downstream sector involves transformations of the crude oil and raw natural gases into usable products (i.e., petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical industries). The midstream sector deals with the storage, distribution, marketing, and transportation issues. The quest for pollution prevention and increased pressure and demand for environmentally sustainable processes and products have been creating new challenges in the oil and gas industry. In order to face these challenges, optimization and big data analytics have been recognized to represent enabling technologies   that can be employed by the industry to remain competitive and at the same time improve its sustainability and reduce its environmental impact.

The scope of this Special Issue reflects the abovementioned challenges, and aims to present analytical tools and modeling strategies that can be readily used in the development and operation of the oil and gas industry to achieve minimum environmental impacts and maximum economic benefits.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Data mining and analytics in the oil and gas sector
• Real time optimization
• Energy management and energy return on energy investment
• Dealing with fluctuating prices and economic uncertainty
• Inherent safety
• Environmental pollution, health, and safety
• Planning and capacity expansion
• Distribution and supply chain management
• Process and enterprise-wide integration
• Transportation and pipeline networks
• Water management
• Planning and scheduling
• Renewable energy integration in oil and gas operations

Prof. Ali Elkamel
Guest Editor

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