-Microsoft and Accenture research reveals industry loses almost a half billion dollars annually due to inefficiencies around finding, using and sharing information among engineers alone-

Dubai, UAE, April 14, 2009: Forty percent of oil and gas professionals believe company adoption of new social media tools, including social networking sites, would boost productivity on the job, yet only one out of four report leveraging these newer tools to capture and share important information internally, according to a new Microsoft Corp. and Accenture survey released today at the second Microsoft Middle East & Africa Global Energy Forum 2009.

The Microsoft and Accenture "Oil and Gas Collaboration Survey 2009," conducted by PennEnergy in partnership with the Oil & Gas Journal Research Center, surveyed industry engineers, geo-scientists and business managers worldwide and found that more than 70 percent believe that collaboration and knowledge-sharing are important for driving revenue, cutting costs and contributed to the health and safety of workers. However, in spite of this, most respondents stated that their organizations are still using older means of collaboration, such as face-to-face meetings, e-mails and conference calls, even though newer, more sophisticated technology tools are available today.

Perhaps more telling is that 61 percent of respondents said that they spend at least one hour each working day searching for information and knowledge sources necessary for their jobs. With an estimated 65,000 engineering professionals in the global oil and gas industry today, this translates into a potential loss of almost 10 million people-hours a year among engineers alone, an average net annual loss of $485 million for the industry, calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor salary statistics.

"During this time of economic upheaval, when every dollar counts and effective decision-making is crucial, new technologies such as social media tools can help oil and gas industry professionals find information, collaborate and generally be more productive," said Ali Faramawy, Vice-President, Microsoft International. "In an environment with fewer workers and less resources, this is incremental productivity our industry can use in finding new reserves, improving execution of capital projects, driving new innovations and reducing costs." 

The survey pointed to one path companies can take to help maximize productivity and facilitate knowledge-sharing and capture. Specifically, 41.5 percent of those polled said they could save at least an hour every day by using these newer and more effective collaboration tools.

Surveyed professionals also revealed that advanced collaboration and information-sharing capabilities bring value not only in sharing enterprise knowledge but also in completing operational projects. For example, 74 percent said that these capabilities are very important in managing capital projects to drive down costs; 51 percent said they are very important in sourcing scarce technical skills needed to enhance revenues; and 50 percent saw these new technologies as very important to the sharing of health and safety advisories or experiences.

"Companies are dealing with several trends right now, not only the aging workforce walking out the door with decades of knowledge, but also experienced hires coming into their businesses who need to understand a new corporate culture," said Omar Boulos, Accenture's Middle East Managing Executive . "Companies have an opportunity to supplement their existing collaboration capabilities with newer tools such as podcasts and social networks to accelerate the sharing of knowledge, increase teaming and augment communication between their workforces in different regions."

While more than half the respondents favored adopting social media technologies to help shrink the productivity gap, only 37 percent of respondents think their companies are prepared or very prepared to facilitate enhanced sharing and capturing of the company's intellectual capital. When asked why, almost half (48 percent) said that companies are not well aligned with the implementation of social media tools. And 44 percent laid responsibility for lack of readiness on older workers who do not typically use digital knowledge-sharing capabilities.

"In the oil and gas industry, collaboration is a key strategy to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and promote collaborative working relationships among oilfield asset teams located in remote locations around the globe," said Omar Saleh, Oil and Gas Sales Manager for Microsoft Middle East and Africa. Web 2.0 technologies can support the following industry requirements: connection with remote geographic locations, knowledge capture, knowledge access, informal knowledge sharing, and joint ventures and team projects thereby reducing costs and driving incremental business value."

-Ends-

About the Microsoft and Accenture "Oil & Gas Industry Collaboration Survey 2009"
The Microsoft and Accenture "Oil & Gas Industry Survey 2009" was conducted by research firm PennEnergy in partnership with the Oil & Gas Journal Research Center in January 2009. The online survey represents the responses of 272 oil and gas industry engineers, project managers, business unit heads and geoscientists, as well as mid- and senior-level executives of various ages and levels of experience. Survey participants represented upstream, midstream and downstream industry sectors with participants from North America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, South America, Europe and Africa. Company types represented included international oil companies, national oil companies, independents, service and supply companies and consultants.

Full survey methodology and results are available at http://www.microsoft.com/oilandgas.

For further information on the 2nd Middle East and Africa Global Energy Forum please visit: http://www.microsoftmeagef.com/ 

About Microsoft in Oil & Gas
Meeting the challenges of global energy supply and demand depends on integrated business processes, breakthrough innovations and solid business relationships. Together with its partners, Microsoft delivers technology solutions that help people in the oil and gas industry make better decisions faster. More information about Microsoft in the oil and gas industry can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/oilandgas. 

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With more than 186,000 people serving clients in over 120 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$23.39 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2008. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.  

© Press Release 2009