Why the next oil boom will be fueled by blockchain

With US President Donald Trump planning a trillion dollar infrastructure program, the possibilities for upgrading American oil and gas systems throughout the country are immense.

Integrating blockchain into supply-line management and logistics could dramatically cut costs.

Major Innovation

The oil majors are waking up to blockchain possibilities.

BP began experimenting with blockchain technology in 2017. David Eyton, BP's head of technology, noted: "There are uses for blockchain that could give us a competitive advantage."

In BP's pilot program, the company began working with Italian supermajor Eni, and Austria's Wien Energie on a trading platform using blockchain technology.

And in November, BP joined a blockchain consortium with fellow industry heavyweights Shell and Statoil, in addition to commodity trading houses – Gunvor, Koch Supply & Trading, and Mercuria, with the financial backing of Dutch ABN Amro, ING, and French Societe Generale.

Patrick Arnaud, Managing Director for Trade & Commodity Finance, ING, said: "The commodity finance industry is hampered by nature by inefficiencies and outdated procedures. By applying blockchain technology, we expect that we can eliminate a lot of these, making the overall process faster and more cost effective."

Royal Dutch/Shell is taking it a step further, investing in a minority stake in the distributed ledger startup Applied Blockchain. The blockchain firm has created platforms across a range of sectors including telecom, manufacturing, and more.'

Petroteq and the Blockchain

While the supermajors are focused on trading, others are looking to the tech for far more creative endeavors.

Petroteq (OTC: PQEFF; TSX-V: PQE), a company that made waves in the sector with its revolutionary patented oil sands tech, has set out on a mission to completely overhaul the industry's inefficient and error prone supply chain management protocols.