Nearly a third of all oil and gas jobs in Canada could be fully automated in the next 20 years, according to a report by EY Canada and the Petroleum Labour Market Information Division of Energy Safety Canada.
New technologies driving the change include robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, natural language processing and machine learning.
“Recent black swan events are pushing oil and gas companies to drive down operating costs and transform how work gets done to improve margins — and the unfortunate reality is that these cuts have resulted in job layoffs,” said Lance Mortlock, EY Canada Oil & Gas Leader.
Many companies had already begun the transition, but the Covid-19 pandemic created a new sense of urgency, Mortlock said.
In addition, 50% of the job competencies upstream will be automated, and workers must develop skills in emotional intelligence, critical thinking and data analysis to be competitive. Upstream refers to stages that involve exploration and production for oil and gas. Downstream refers to activities that are closer to the consumer.
