Celonis Energy Day 2023: Process mining helps oil and gas companies unlock $2.5B in value

Energy companies face a host of challenges: global instability, supply chain disruptions and  macroeconomic headwinds. But turbulent times also create opportunities. Companies that adapt to these rapidly-changing circumstances can not only survive, but thrive.

Inside every organization, there are those who want to drive this change. They don't accept that inefficiency is the price of doing business. As I wrote previously, “they know that work can be better, things can run faster, business can be more sustainable and value can be greater.” They are the change-makers, and with the right systems and support, they can become game-changers.

Hundreds of these change-makers from the oil and gas, chemicals and utilities industries gathered in Houston for Celonis Energy 2023. They came together to learn how process mining  can find and capture opportunities to drive value across the top, bottom and green lines.

Gene Reznik, SVP, Ecosystem & Industries at Celonis, on stage at Celonis Energy Day 2023.

“Using Celonis, oil and gas companies like yours can not only unlock massive value, but also build operations that are agile, resilient, and sustainable,” said Gene Reznik, SVP, Ecosystem & Industries, during the event’s keynote address. “With Celonis, you get the power to ensure critical raw materials are always available, predict equipment failures and enable proactive maintenance, and simulate cost and emissions for smart transport decisions.”

$2.5B in value unlocked by oil and gas companies with Celonis

During the inaugural event, major energy companies from around the world took the stage to share their real-world experiences driving value with process mining and Celonis. Present at the event were Celonis customers and ecosystem partners, such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, MOL Group, Huntsman Polyurethanes, SLB and PwC.

“Process Mining is the most effective tool for continuous process improvement that I have seen.” said Erika Windham, Business Process Mining Platform Manager, ExxonMobil.

Reznik highlighted results, such as:

• Realizing value in procurement, collections and other finance services

• Optimizing plant maintenance

• Streamlining meter-to-cash (for utilities)

• Reducing emissions for smart transport decisions

• Supporting enterprise-wide ERP modernization programs

He also called out one value story in particular. By using Celonis to enable PO automation, curtail maverick buying and ensure spend compliance, BP saved $800M in procurement costs. Reznik described how the oil and gas giant uses Celonis to watch procurement flows across the globe and pinpoint how to capture even more value. He also said BP’s process excellence journey hasn’t stopped with Procurement. The company is embedding Celonis into the fabric of BP strategic initiatives.

“When we look at the world, when we look at the energy industry, we don't just see it for what it is,” said Reznik. “We see it for what it could be.”

Process mining innovations showcased at Energy Day 2023

Attendees also heard how innovations in process mining are making the technology more intuitive, more open and more intelligent. For example:

Celonis Process Sphere™ (powered by the Celonis Object-Centric Data Model and object-centric process mining) enables end-to-end visibility of business operations.

Multi-Object Process Explorer allows users to explore how objects relate to each other and how an event relates to multiple objects involved in a process, something not possible with traditional process mining.

The End-to-End Lead Times App provides supply chain transparency and enables customers to reveal and mitigate bottlenecks in the creation of finished goods from sourcing raw material to final delivery.

LLM for PQL Generation (currently in beta) uses natural language processing (NLP) to translate natural language statements, queries and instructions into PQL (process query language).

“Our customers and partners are doing incredible things with Celonis,” said Divya Krishnan, VP of Product Marketing. “They’re continually pushing at the boundaries of what the technology is capable of, helping us to take our product to new heights.”

Divya Krishnan, VP of Product Marketing at Celonis, on stage at Celonis Energy Day 2023.

Celonis City Collab kickoff

Celonis Energy Day 2023 was also part of the company's global City Collab project–a chance for Celonauts (as Celonis employees are called), customers and partners to make a positive impact on the local communities that host our events. During the keynote, Jim Gewargis, VP of Sales - Production, shared that Celonis has partnered with two Houston organizations working to end food insecurity – Kids’ Meals Houston and the Houston Food Bank.

Event attendees were given the opportunity to decorate lunch bags, which would be filled with food by Kids’ Meals Houston and delivered to food insecure children. Gewargis also announced that Celonis would be making a donation to the Houston Food Bank and was collecting non-perishable food items that would be delivered the following week when Celonis team members would be volunteering onsite. Gewargis invited attendees, their colleagues, friends and families to join the volunteering Celonauts and said additional details and registration information would be sent to attendees.

Bill Detwiler

Editor, Technical Content & Ecosystem

Bill Detwiler is Editor for Technical Content and Ecosystem at Celonis. He is the former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic, where he hosted the Dynamic Developer podcast and Cracking Open, CNET’s popular online show. Bill is an award-winning journalist, who’s covered the tech industry for more than two decades. Prior his career in the software industry and tech media, he was an IT professional in the social research and energy industries.