Digitalization and continious improvement / SDG 9.4 /

KPO implements its digital transformation in conformity to the Digitalization Strategy and Roadmap approved in 2023. The Program encompasses over 100 projects in 6 key portfolios: Baseline, Production, Automation of HSSE Processes, Back-office Processes Digitalization, Ensuring Success of Digital Transformation, and Cyber Security Maturity Program. Our key digitalization achievements in 2024:

• Telemetry Phase II Completion: 17 wells have been connected to the telemetry systemin 2024 (2021 – 9 wells, 2023 – 15 wells), which improves production forecasting, enhances prompt response capabilities, optimizes maintenance, and reduces the risks of standstills.  The data have been integrated with the analytical and production systems, streamlining controls and operational efficiency. Cyber security has been ensured, while the data transfer to the forecast models expedites the digital transformation and boosts production safety.
• Smart search: An AI search platform was created for the unstructured data, reducing the search time by 90 % – the engineers are finding data in 10 minutes instead of an hour. This tool enhances productivity, automates routine tasks, improves access to information and the interfaces between units, while ensuring accurate analyses and accelerating the decision-making.
• Simplified modelling for production forecasts: A rapid AI production forecasting system has been rolled out, speeding up the calculation at a 20-fold rate – development of scenarios takes minutes instead of hours. It improves the accuracy of forecasts, simplifies the data access, optimizes planning and decision-making, reduces risks of deviations from the planned performance indicators, and streamlines the production management efficiency.
• Production forecasting: The “Production Forecasting Tool” has been implemented to automate the production forecasting, that integrates all work stages in one platform. The forecasting time has been reduced from 26 to less than 14 days, which renders the data more up-to-date and improves the accuracy of calculations. Besides, there is less dependence on Excel reports and correspondence, which improves the process by 70%.
• Maintenance and engineering based on smart systems: Work on creation of a Master Catalogue and on a design of a system for the Unit-3 process flow diagrams development has been completed aiming to improve the way the industrial workflows are managed and documented. The outcome is a precise and coherent representation of the equipment, pipelines, and instruments, streamlining the decision-making and preparedness for operations. Introduction of smart process flow diagrams improves the quality of documentation and management, enhances co-operation, lowers risks, and facilitates transition from design to operations and maintenance.
• Transport request services (phase 2): The transport request service has been automated through a mobile App and a digital control room. Now employees can book the nearest available vehicle without participation of any control room operators, their expectation time was reduced from one hour to 20 minutes and the number of steps is twice less. The system already covers 20 % of the car fleet and is planned to be fully rolled out by the end of 2025, increasing availability of transport and ensuring its better use.
• Project management methodology roll-out: Project management workflows have been formalised and standardised in KPO. The standard and the procedure have been updated, ensuring a unified approach towards planning, execution, and monitoring of the digitalization projects. It made the workflows more transparent and allocation of resources more efficient, reducing risks and enabling timely achievement of targets.
• Digital venture workflow management system upgrade: A unified corporate platform has been created with workspaces for each business unit, high level workflow cards, and regulatory documentation. The previous corporate portal with over 6,000 documents complicated the navigation and the information update. The project resulted in a normalised and automatic business process management system, streamlining the data access and bringing them increasingly up-to-date.
• Risk management: The risk management system has been streamlined in SAP GRC, allowing to introduce new functions, close gaps, and improve the automated reporting and monitoring. Approval of risk mitigation actions is now automatic, and the system has been updated in compliance with the current requirements from 2018.
• Implementation of the electronic document management system: the pilot phase was implemented in 2024, the configuration and testing of the correspondence module was completed. The system is being integrated with SAP to optimize document management processes.

The projects implemented in KPO confirmed efficiency of the digital transformation, demonstrating substantial improvement of operational processes, data management, and automation of essential functions. For further development we need to continue scaling the successful decisions, integrating the best technologies, and enhancing the analytical tools. Special attention should be paid to extending the AI usage, strengthening cyber security, and improving digital platforms for the support of strategic decisions. A coherent development of digital initiatives will ensure a further growth in effectiveness, reduce operational risks, and boost the competitive positions of KPO. KPO continuously revises and updates its strategic documents.

Continuous Improvement

The Continuous Improvement (CI) participates in the improvement of business processes, which includes training of employees in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) supported by ENI. 90+ employees have received the certificates by 2024, including 7 certified with the “Six Sigma Yellow Belt”. This training includes implementation of projects on improvement of the business processes helping to streamline them. The processes have been mapped for KPO key functional areas:

• Contracts and Procurement Enhancements
   CI team reviewed over 60 business processes in KPO procurement, including all regulatory documents, as part of the e-Procurement program roll-out. A targeted process has been developed (TO-BE), reflecting suggestions from all key stakeholders jointly with the subject-matter specialists and a business partner. The purpose of this project is to introduce a unified procurement system, encompassing the entire C&P process (end-to-end), allowing us to streamline, speed up, increase transparency, and improve interaction with suppliers. The expected outcome of the system roll-out includes efficiency increased by 46 %, reduction of phases by 56 %, removal of paperwork turnaround by 80 %, and the duration of operations decreased by 54 %.
• Advancements in Production & Maintenance (P&M)
  Production Forecasting process was identified as one of the priorities for continuous improvement. CI team in collaboration with RPE experts, P&M Production Optimization group, and Marketing specialists have been working on Digital Oil Field project that aims to cover end-to-end Production forecasting process with use of advanced analytics tools (ML technologies) and provide significant process optimization. As a result, the process duration has been reduced from 26 to 14 days, improving the overall process by 70 %. The project is at the completion stage and when the system is stable the Company will perceive the achieved advantages.
• HR Recruitment Process Overhaul
  CI team has held a large-scale analysis of all 44 HR business processes, by interviewing the HR team, drawing diagrams of the current business processes, identifying painful issues and possibilities for their mitigation. Process optimization and automation opportunities have been identified for 29 business processes. One proposal has already been implemented, other 9 have been accepted by a User Department and passed to IT&T for implementing. Work on endorsement of the remaining proposals is ongoing.

These initiatives make part of a broader strategy to enhance operational efficiency, cut costs, and improve service delivery across the board. Additional mechanisms were identified for 2025 to enhance the CI maturity. DCI team provides support for the KPO Business Units in order to line up digitalization process across the entire company through an integrated approach to analysis and optimization.

Cyber Security Maturity Program

Cyber Security Department was established at the end of the 2022 year and the Cyber Security Maturity Program was launched in 2023 in order to reach out level of Oil & Gas supermajors average. The main results of Cyber Security Maturity Program in 2024:

• In 2024 the Cyber Security Awareness and Training Campaign (CS A&T) was implemented and made operational.  This campaign is an annual strategic initiative, its purpose is to train and motivate our employees to follow best practices and avoid sprawling threats, such as, phishing, spear phishing, ransomware, malware, social engineering schemes, and much more. It consisted of cyber security lessons, learning videos, phishing imitations, posters, TV presentations, pop-up messages, monthly informational bulletins and the awarding part.
• Cyber threat identification and monitoring tools have been introduced for the Information Security Coordination Centre as part of the CS A&T Campaign, works on improvement and integration with the existing system are currently ongoing. The value of this Centre establishment includes the following:
  • Online monitoring: covers 100 % of the IT infrastructure.
  • Automatic discovery and response: processing 70-100 notification in the online mode, significantly reducing the need for manual intervention.
  • Better risk management: a more efficient identification and removal of vulnerabilities; tasks that previously required up to three weeks, do not take more than one day anymore.

Cyber-attacks are becoming ever more sophisticated, and our goal is to keep improving our security system continuously.