Top 10 Growth Opportunities in Oil and Gas Digitalization and Automation, 2025

Disruptive Technologies are Driving Efficiency, Safety, and Sustainability in Upstream Operations

Decarbonization, digital transformation, and technology innovation have accelerated significantly in the past 5 years. The global energy industry is experiencing an unprecedented transition, and this change is bringing exciting new growth opportunities to the oil and gas (O&G) industry. Digital technology and new business models are driving O&G optimization, including in critical areas such as process efficiency, decarbonization, safety, sustainability, and user experience. Opportunities arising from the industry's digital transformation include maintaining operational efficiency, supporting an aging workforce, enabling predictive maintenance, driving profitability, and supporting the achievement of sustainability goals.

This study lists and evaluates the top 10 growth opportunities that Frost & Sullivan has identified for the digitalization and automation of the global oil and gas industry in 2025.

In 2024, the global oil and gas automation industry reached $20.8 billion. Driven by the popularity of transformative digitalization trends and the urgent need to improve worker productivity and safety, the industry will grow steadily at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5% from 2024 to 2030, reaching $32.1 billion by the end of the forecast period.

Artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, digital twins, and robotics will dominate the industry as they enable full operational automation. The prevalent applications will be predictive maintenance, remote site monitoring, data and asset management, drilling automation, and energy management, which will pave the way for cleaner and more innovative O&G procedures, including the creation of subsea facilities, autonomous drilling operations, and virtual training and exploration.

Automation technologies will play a major role in achieving both digital and energy transition in O&G, becoming an essential tool for meeting and complying with net-zero objectives by 2050.