Introduction
The primary task of a gas utility worker is to install and service the utility pipelines of gas systems that transport the natural gas from the sources to points of consumption such as the meter sets. The gas utility systems entail the transmission distribution systems of the gas under different pressure levels, the mains and services of the gas and the pressure controllers, gas meters and regulators ( Handscomb, 2016) . The duties vary with responsibilities of the different duties that come with the job. However, on a general scale, the gas utility operators interpret the prints and specifications that help determine the size, position and materials necessary for gas installation in the mains ( Handscomb, 2016) . They further install the cathodic protection that serves to protect the corrosion in steel and aluminium pipes as well as conduct routine maintenance functions on gas systems. The following paper conducts a job analysis on the gas utility worker and studies the future prospects of the job in regards to trends and future outlooks.
Analysis of the Gas Utility Operator in the Gas Industry
The utility gas operator may soon be replaced by a more advanced personnel unless they work extremely hard towards improving in both knowledge and skill of the changing systems. The current trends suggest that the future of gas and oil greatly depends on innovation and high level efficiency. According to Montague (2017), booms and busts have been evident in the oil and gas industry in North America and the world as a whole. However, despite the recent drops in process together with other challenges, the ConocoPhillips and the Chevron insisted in a report by the ABB Customer 2017 that there is optimism in the performance of the industry following recent technical innovations and access to raw materials.
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Leveille reports that the United States has a daily oil production of 25 million barrels that is five million more barrels than Russia and ten million more than the 15 million of Saudi Arabia. However, the United States would be forced to produce 12 million barrels of oil on a daily basis without the unconventional production that combines the horizontal drilling with fracturing of the hydraulics ( Handscomb, 2016) . The observation by analytics is that the innovation in the technicalities of the oil and gas industry is inevitable despite the reluctance by most companies to adopt to them (World Economic Forum, 2017). The game-changing innovations in the industry as seen in the past decades has been the Deepwater and subsea applications, seismic technology, data analytics and horizontal drilling and fracturing as well as cloud computing and data science. There is an addition to these innovations with the incorporation of the more capable, powerful and portable resources of computing that are currently aiding the ConocoPhillips projects (World Economic Forum, 2017). The equipment perform learning of high-end machine, visualization and the simulation of site as well as other functions.
The digitalization of the industry is taking a turn for the best. The digital transformation intends to transform the manner in which people live and work on a larger scale as compared to the past revolutions. It is recommended that a huge part of the systems used in transmission of the gas from sources to consumers will be digitalized (World Economic Forum, 2017). The concept of digitalization insists that the utility operator will have little to do and would thus be reduced to a “fixer”. It is thus imperative that the worker improves with the changing tides and repackage themselves if they are to remain relevant in the gas industry in the future.
Data
The digital transformation in the oil and gas industry intend to unlock at least $1.6 trillion of the value for the industry together with the clients and the general society. The sum can increase to $2.5 trillion if the current operational constraints are relaxed (World Economic Forum, 2017). The key attributes that indicate or rather point to the suggested profit margins are the high maturity and high certainty initiatives and technologies such as the autonomous robots and operations, remote operation centres and the optimization of the operations. The technologies such as 4D seismic or advanced drilling as well as methods of completion will further increase the profit margins (World Economic Forum, 2017). The result would be the reduction of costs that includes pay to employees deemed irrelevant or no longer necessary. It is in this regard that the utility gas worker must improve and advance in terms of technology and science to be able to cope with the vast future changes.
The oil and gas industry is under immense pressure to automate key operations courtesy of the hampering margins by the low oil prices. The capital expenditures for the exploration have greatly reduced by approximately 25% since the year 2014 placing emphasis on the maximization of the production via squeezing the current assets (World Economic Forum, 2017).
Trends
The image shows the relative positions of the market in regards to innovation and technical change. The call for automation of operations has the great effect of displacing almost all incurred costs including those of employees perceived no longer needed in the process of the operations.
Conclusion
The job of a gas utility operator entails the installation and servicing of pipeline systems that convey the natural gas from the sources to points of consumption such as the building meter sets. The job is impressively important in the gas and oil industry but trends in the industry seem to be shaking its firm position. The need for increased advances in the technicalities of operations in the gas and oil systems ascertains that the gas utility operator needs to improve themselves widely to cope with the changes otherwise will become outdated.
References
Handscomb, C., Sharabura, S., & Woxholth, J. (2016). The oil and gas organization of the future. Mckinsey & Company, 1, 1.
Montague, J. (2017). Bright oil and gas future will rely on innovation, efficiency. Control Global. Retrieved 9 October 2017, from http://www.controlglobal.com/articles/2017/abb-customer-world-2017-article-16/
World Economic Forum. (2017). Digital Transformation Initiative Oil and Gas Industry (2nd ed., pp. 1-36). Cologny/Geneva: World Economic Forum. Retrieved from http://reports.weforum.org/digital-transformation/wp-content/blogs.dir/94/mp/files/pages/files/dti-oil-and-gas-industry-white-paper.pdf
