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May 27
Sand Technologies
Companies with traditional procurement processes will struggle to keep pace with oil and gas production, projected to reach 13.5 million barrels daily by 2026. It’s time to rethink energy procurement with the AI and automation advantage. Modern AI and data analytics tools can automate these traditionally routine tasks, provide insightful data to support faster decision-making, reduce costs and free teams to focus on higher-value work.
Procurement in the oil and gas industry includes numerous challenges that can hinder efficiency and accuracy. One major issue is manual invoice processing. Staff often spend hours searching, exporting invoices and analyzing the data. The current manual nature of this process leads to wasted time, inefficiencies and increased risk of human error. Often, manual processing leads to delayed payments that can strain supplier relationships.
With hundreds of invoices arriving, there’s rarely time to verify every detail. Lack of controls can easily result in financial losses, which can grow quickly in the oil and gas industry.
Cumbersome reporting systems make it challenging to analyze procurement data effectively, leading to missed cost savings and strategic decision-making opportunities. Every custom spend report (by site, supplier, product line, etc.) means manual data wrangling and chart-building. By the time insights appear, opportunities may be gone.
Addressing these pain points with automation is no longer an enhancement; it is essential to streamline operations and maximize value in such a demanding and resource-intensive industry.
Manual oil and gas industry procurement processes significantly hinder business operations and growth. These outdated methods and repetitive report-building often lead to slowed operations and increased human errors as teams grapple with excessive paperwork and inefficient workflows. Manual invoice work ties up teams, taking valuable time away from strategic tasks.
Financial risks also increase with manual processes. Data entry errors or a lack of proper documentation can result in overspending or compliance issues. Without automated cross-checks, errors or fraudulent charges are easy to miss, exposing a company to unexpected costs, audit concerns and compliance issues.
Additionally, decision-making can be delayed due to the time-consuming task of consolidating data from various sources, leaving companies unable to react quickly to market changes. If it takes days (or weeks) to compile spend data, leadership can’t respond promptly to cost trends or renegotiate contracts. Opportunities for savings slip away.
Poor spend visibility further compounds these challenges, making it difficult to identify cost-saving opportunities or optimize budgets. Disconnected data across suppliers, projects and product lines makes it hard to enforce procurement policies or spot waste. A single-pane view of where dollars are going is vital.
Procurement is one of the best use cases when adopting AI for oil and gas. With invoices and spend data at its core, AI-driven tools deliver insights and efficiencies that manual methods can’t match. Many industry leaders are already seeing double-digit savings by piloting AI-powered solutions. Consequently, 74% of Procurement Officers report they plan to use AI by the end of 2025.
Modern AI and data analytics tools can automate procurement, which is traditionally a highly manual process. AI can provide insightful data to support faster decision-making, reduce costs and free teams to focus on higher-value work. The future of energy procurement is data-driven and automated. By embracing AI and analytics now, companies can turn procurement from a time-consuming chore into a competitive advantage.
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