Oil and gas industry IT solutions can be scaled for use in Russian coal sector - expert

TYUMEN. Sept 19 (Interfax) - Software and hardware suites developed by oil and gas companies can be scaled for use in the coal industry, where dependence on imported solutions is still high, the head of the Russian Energy Ministry's Competency Center for the Technological Development of the Fuel and Energy Sector, Oleg Zhdaneyev, said.

"As regards the coal industry, I think that here there is massive potential for scaling these solutions that were developed by the oil and gas sector. Those solutions that have already been implemented, tested, and successfully rolled out in the oil and gas industry 10-15 years ago could now be introduced to the coal industry," he said during the Industrial and Energy Forum in Tyumen on Thursday.

Zhdaneyev said the consolidation drive by large oil and gas companies to develop technical solutions had been successful, but "it transpires that what is being developed in the oil and gas industry now is not accessible to our colleagues in coal."

Matvei Alexeyev, head of Digital Economy Programs at oil producer Gazprom Neft , confirmed during the session that fuel and energy companies had managed to gain technological independence.

"We now see the full picture. We see a high degree of digital maturity in the oil and gas industry, and a lot of solutions have export potential," Alexeyev said.