I was cycling through a bunch of my favorite web-sites last week, and I saw this post, Is “Look at Uber and Airbnb” the Best We Can Do?, and it got me to thinking about the very interesting position the oil and gas industry finds itself in lately. The over-the-top growth and revenue of the “excess capacity” business model is very seductive (who doesn’t want to build an app and own the world?) and is a very good example of the tremendous fruits available to those who come up with simple yet fundamental innovations.

Immediate access to incredibly specific data that is immediately contextualized is powerful – right now my Uber app says I can expect a driver to pick me up at my south Austin office within 5 minutes. I don’t need to know what my GPS coordinates are (or indeed what GPS coordinates are, or how they’re determined or measured), and it doesn’t need to know where I am going (although the app is very good at guessing).

No matter what line of business you are in, the current market is ripe for disruption and innovation (Check out this list of the top 10 brands we were googling 15 years ago and see which direction they’ve trended). And if you’re looking for quick innovation, the efficiency at scale no matter what scale that is brought to bear by accurate, complete and up-to-date data, derived into clear and action-ready analysis is going to be where you want to start your investigation.

In 1857 Edwin Drake committed his energy and enthusiasm into collecting what had previously been an unfortunate by-product of drilling for water in Pennsylvania, and within a decade there was a huge market for what had once been thrown aside. It could have been anyone, but in the case of oil, it was Edwin Drake who first set to collecting and selling what would become the single biggest component in the global economy. (Drake’s death anniversary is coming up this week).

So put your insights to work, and let Drillinginfo help you understand and capitalize on any details that might slow you down. Check out this handy infographic of how we can help you stay in front of your peers with better, faster decisions:

[sc:Innovation-Infographic]

Extra Credit

Since I was researching innovation, I came across this video about how you can apply linear friction to weld wood.

That is something I never imagined in all my years of weekend projects. We’ve been working with wood since, well, forever probably. And we have just now innovated a brand new way to join wood together. That’s cool. If you enjoyed that, you’ll also enjoy watching this video of a violin being made…

Your Turn

What do you think about the future in oil & gas? Leave a comment below.