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Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
 

Session 4. Oral Presentation for: Ensuring digital success: an approach to making better digital investments

Peter Carydias A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Wood, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.




Peter Carydias builds high-performing teams who help clients to achieve tangible value through digital. He leads Wood’s Strategy and Transformation capability in its Advisory business and implements plans for clients worldwide. He holds a BEng from Monash University, is a Chartered Engineer with IEAust and the IMechE (UK), and has an MBA from AGSM (Sydney)/HKUST (China).

* Correspondence to: peter.carydias@woodplc.com

Australian Energy Producers Journal 65, EP24432 https://doi.org/10.1071/EP24432
Published: 19 June 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of Australian Energy Producers.

Abstract

Presented on 27 May 2025: Session 4

Asset operators face unprecedented challenges: fluctuating resource prices, disrupted supply chains, and demands for sustainability. Simultaneously, they’re expected to reduce costs by 20–40%, increase automation to 60–80%, eliminate incidents, achieve net-zero emissions, and boost production by 5–10%. The rapid proliferation of digital technology into our energy supply chain has unlocked a major new opportunity: the ability to capture and implement engineers’ expertise and deploy it at scale. With 75% of digital initiatives failing to realise value 3–5 years after implementation, effectively prioritising digital initiatives and allocating resources accordingly is crucial for ensuring strong return on investment. We introduce a novel, quantitative methodology for assessing digital initiative value realisation, comprising seven key steps: (1) digital capability assessment; (2) value identification; (3) base case value driver tree development; (4) impact assessment; (5) quantitative modelling; (6) feasibility estimation; and (7) prioritisation and selection. This approach enables organisations to drive successful digital and artificial intelligence transformation through enhanced decision-making and strategic resource allocation. We present two case studies demonstrating its effectiveness: (1) an energy industry mega-project identified 10 high-potential initiatives from over 100, potentially achieving US$96 million per annum operational expenditure (OPEX) savings and 130 ktCO2e per annum emission reductions. (2) A single supply chain technology application modelled to deliver a net present value exceeding US$70 million through increased asset life and availability, and reduced project delays. These examples illustrate how business process optimisation with quantified initiative value modelling can help asset operators achieve bold transformation goals, ensuring strong returns on digital investments.

To access the Oral Presentation click the link on the right. To read the full paper click here

Keywords: AI and automation value realisation, asset operations, digital investments, digital maturity assessment, digital transformation, energy sector innovation, optimisation, quantitative portfolio analysis, supply chain digitisation, sustainability and emissions reduction.

Biographies

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Peter Carydias builds high-performing teams who help clients to achieve tangible value through digital. He leads Wood’s Strategy and Transformation capability in its Advisory business and implements plans for clients worldwide. He holds a BEng from Monash University, is a Chartered Engineer with IEAust and the IMechE (UK), and has an MBA from AGSM (Sydney)/HKUST (China).