Digital Twins Are About to Transform Oil and Gas—Here’s Who’s Winning the Race

Oil and gas producers manage sprawling, complex operations. Assets are spread across basins, states, and continents. If we take a closer look, hundreds of components are present at each site – any of which may lead to increased downtime. If the operator has corrosion on Pump B19, lead on Valve 26, or risk of a potential outage in a catalytic cracking unit may amplify into a shutdown of the full plant.

This is where digital twins become critical to oil and gas producers.

The digital twin acts as a living replica of a physical system or asset. While a static 3D model could be used, using digital twins is superior. Digital twins are updated regularly with real-time data from IoT sensors, operational logs, SCADA systems, and maintenance records. Producers can see not only what the equipment looks like, but also what outside factors are influencing it, how it is performing, and what risks might arise.

Using this process, each pump, vale, and unit is mirrored virtually. By doing so, producers can proactively manage the situation rather than sitting back while issues emerge in the field. The digital twin recognizes abnormalities immediately and models the problem – which allows operators to fix problems before escalation occurs.

Oil and gas operators can achieve a big picture view of their infrastructure by scaling this capability from the component to plant level. This allows them to reduce unplanned outages, fine-tune performance, and ultimately optimize operations across an entire value chain – all leading to better results.

Why Digital Twins Are Taking Off Now

Digital twins are not a new idea, but they’re unlocking utility with modern tech advancements. For example, IoT sensors across pipelines, pumps, and refineries offers more operational data than ever. Operators can combine these capabilities with the incredible performance of AI and cloud computing. By doing so, companies may be able to run real-time simulations on thousands of scenarios.

The impact of digital twins is substantial, due to their capability of transforming raw data into smart business and technological decisions.

Operators can proactively foresee vibration, corrosion, or pressure anomalies before they expand and spiral – instead of rushing to fix failures after they occur. This lets them model what-if scenarios whether they are related to flow rates, throughput, or maintenance schedules – all without having to take assets offline. At the system level, digital twins help reduce leaks, optimize energy use, and fine-tune performance to meet targets and solve operational problems.

Who’s Leading the Way

• Cerebre is building a live intelligence map of industrial facilities by transforming static schematics into structured, contextual, and searchable digital models. It turns complex engineering drawings (P&IDs, CAD files) into a connected foundation for AI, analytics and operational workflows. The company is part of a long-term agreement – which was signed In August 2025 – with ExxonMobil. It was designed to further enable Exxon’s Foundational Digital Backbone.
• PipelineSentry provides a digital twin platform for pipeline integrity, digitizing and linking design, manufacturing, operations, and survey data, while combining corrosion tracking and predictive analytics to automate engineering assessments and enable data-driven maintenance decisions.
• Geminus AI works to create digital twins for industrial systems by capitalizing on physics-informed AI. The company then integrates data, simulations and the laws of physics to model and optimize performance. Geminus partnered with Schlumberger and is advancing their platform across oil & gas, utilities, and chemicals.
• Akselos is using structural performance management software is helping petrochemical and offshore platforms avoid fatigue and extend their lifespans, by providing a real time view of equipment’s structural integrity. Akselos is working with Pan American Energy and Shell to streamline processes and manage downstream assets.
• VEERUM provides industrial operators like Imperial Oil with a visual asset management platform that unifies CAD/geospatial data, drone and satellite imagery, and sensor inputs into a 3D digital twin. Its VisOps tools support maintenance planning, operations, and remote collaboration using one centralized source of truth.
• Kongsberg Digital has built full-facility twins for plants and refineries, giving operators real-time levers to improve efficiency and stability. As part of a robust partnership, Shell started working with Kongsberg to facilitate production optimization, predictive maintenance, and to address Corrosion Under Insulation (CIU) across its worldwide base of assets.
• Worlds.io puts together sensors, cameras, and spatial AI to monitor and learn from true world operations on a timely bases – using cutting edge 4D digital twins. The company delivers continuous insights – using its platform to automate model training – with well-known collaborators such as Chevron.

What’s Next

Looking ahead, I expect that digital twins will become connected, allowing for even better performance and results. They will link individual wells, pipelines, and refineries into a comprehensive, integrated digital model of the value chain. Imagine being able to see how a drilling decision in West Texas impacts refining margins in Houston in real time. That’s where the industry is heading; not just isolated twins, but a living, interconnected system that mirrors the entire business.

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