"Information Technologies in Fuel and Energy Industry. Solutions for Effective Management" conference

The "Information Technologies in Fuel and Energy Industry. Solutions for Effective Management" conference took place on 31 May 2012 in Moscow. The event was organized by ITPS and EAE-Consult which boast over eight years’ experience in implementing large-scale projects within LUKOIL group organizations. Over the years they have created industry-specific solutions geared toward companies in the Russian fuel and energy sector, since they are able to identify solutions to fulfil the needs and requirements of the industry, which are then are tested in real-life complex production conditions and supported by maintenance resources.

The conference gathered over a hundred participants including department heads and line managers from the IT departments of major fuel and energy companies in Russia: Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Rosneft, LUKOIL, TNK-BP, SIBUR, KazTransGaz, and Belkamneft, as well as managers and experts from captive IT service structures, representing companies such as LUKOIL-INFORM, TBInform, RN-Inform, and ITSK. Representatives from key IT suppliers - SAP, Microsoft, and OpenText were also in attendance.

The conference participants were introduced to an information management model concept for a modern oil and gas company, an industry-specific solution map, a range of efficient industry-specific solutions and enterprise information management systems:

• Industry-specific SAP-based ERP solutions
• Production systems in oil production and oil refining (PM)
• Systems for budgeting, tax planning and administration
• Project design document management
• Automation solutions for shared services
• Examples of "digital field" technologies and mobile applications

The conference concluded with a round-table discussion on "Industry standards and standards solutions for fuel and energy companies". Alexander Pruzhinin, First Deputy Director of Strategy at LUKOIL-INFORM, Leonid Tikhomirov, General Director of Parma-Telecom (ITPS), and Alexander Mironov, General Director of EAE-Consult, took part in the discussion. The participants reached a unanimous decision that automation in Russian oil and gas companies should be governed by best practices and previous experience, while existing solutions, including modifications of vendor software packages in compliance with applicable Russian laws and inter-industry standards, should be used more efficiently.