Trends in Digital Investment in Oil and Gas | Accenture

The “Accenture Upstream Oil and Gas Digital Trends Survey 2019,” the seventh edition of Accenture’s report on digital technologies in the upstream #oil and gas industry, is based on a global survey of 255 industry professionals, including C-suite executives, functional leaders and engineers.

When respondents were asked which digital technologies their organizations are investing in today, cybersecurity was cited more than any other, by 61% of respondents – five times higher than the 12% who made that claim in 2017. The report suggests that the focus on cyber resilience is increasing sharply as oil companies seek to protect their assets and reputations.

Cybersecurity was also cited by more respondents (16%) than any other digital solutions when asked which were driving the greatest impact in terms of business performance, up from 9% in 2017.

With their increased investments in cybersecurity today, only 5% of respondents see increased vulnerability to cyberattacks as the biggest risk from a lack of investment in digital – less than one-third the number (18%) who made this claim in 2017. This might explain why only 35% of respondents plan to invest in cybersecurity over the next three to five years.