PETROLIAM Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is building its digital and technological capabilities to set itself apart from competitors as it moves forward and adjusts to the low oil price environment.
To cope with the “new normal”, president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said Petronas wants to make technology its differentiator as the industry is deemed a highly technical one.
“We believe technology is the game changer in ensuring our survival. We allocate about RM600 million to RM800 million a year in technology and digital investments. The contribution is small to our profit margin but we need to do what others don’t.
“We are one of the few oil and gas companies to have appointed a chief digital officer this year to orchestrate the whole digital initiative throughout the group and this will continue, and I think it will provide a lot of potential and will improve the bottom line.”
Wan Zulkiflee said while the company had in the past developed technologies, it was not successful in promoting and commercialising them.
“We said we would invest in technology even when the times are bad and the same allocation will be given out no matter what the oil price is. We are looking at our set-ups and sending more people for PhDs in the areas we focus on, and become selective on the areas we focus on, such as seismic geo-imaging, contaminant removal and ionic liquid, among others. This is just for in-house usage. But we need special skills to commercialise them,” he said, adding that there would be more efforts to ensure that the industry benefits from the new technologies.