Energy Resources GIS Conference Recap
The 2025 Energy Resources GIS Conference (ERGIS) took place from April 29-May 1, 2025. The three-day event brought together geospatial professionals from the oil and gas, pipeline, and renewables sectors, with the power of geography as a common theme. This year also included a scattering of attendees from commercial agriculture and forestry organizations, all of whom are interested in the application of ArcGIS to enhance business operations.
The conference opened with a powerful keynote from Yvette Oldacre, ExxonMobil’s Global Low Carbon Solutions manager. Using the “pale blue dot” image captured by the Voyager One spacecraft in 1990, Oldacre emphasized how this photograph showing Earth as a tiny, imperceptible speck against the vastness of space serves as a profound symbol of perspective for geospatial professionals.
She highlighted the essential role of geospatial teams in creating perspective by “turning raw data into insights, uncertainty into clarity, and complexity into decisions.” Oldacre noted how geospatial professionals help stakeholders see beyond their immediate needs, bringing dimensions of understanding they might not even realize they need.
Throughout her presentation, Oldacre emphasized how GIS provides three ways to create perspective for leadership:
- Telling a story instead of just presenting data
- Leveraging visualization to its fullest potential through maps and 3D models
- Speaking the language of decision-makers by framing information in terms of risk, cost, opportunities, and impact rather than technical jargon
She concluded with a powerful message: “There comes a point where you have to move from seeing the data to seeing the place—understanding where the value lies. Geospatial is critical and a growing piece of the puzzle.”
Oldacre challenged attendees to remember that “perspective changes everything” and that their work has the potential to transform how businesses, governments, and communities see the world.
Following Oldacre’s keynote, the conference shifted to demonstrations of Esri’s latest technology developments. Dal Hunter, director of Natural Resources at Esri, explained how ArcGIS is made for everyone. It’s not just for GIS professionals but also for knowledge workers, executives, casual users, and developers. He highlighted continuous improvements in core capabilities including mapping, analytics, data management, field operations, imagery and remote sensing, 3D GIS, indoor GIS, and real-time data integration.
A significant focus was placed on AI integration within the ArcGIS system. Dr. Elvis Takow demonstrated how AI enhances GIS workflows in creating data, conducting analysis, and improving efficiency. He showed how computer vision in Survey123 could almost instantly extract information from an image of a tank safety sign to automatically populate form fields. He also showcased deep learning models that could identify tanks showing signs of rust in satellite imagery.
The plenary session also featured terrific presentations from PureWest Energy, showcasing their use of GIS for environmental stewardship and improved business decision making; ONEOK, detailing their GIS-led modernization of a 60,000-mile pipeline system; and EDF Renewables, who demonstrated how ArcGIS enhances their land management system through integration with Salesforce and Malvec, to improve efficiency and record-keeping.
Reality Capture and Digital Twins of Operational Assets
A standout theme at ERGIS 2025 was the advancement of reality capture technologies and digital twin implementations across energy sectors. ConocoPhillips presented their groundbreaking “Unconventional Digital Twins” program, highlighting their global initiative to create digital replicas of assets, from offshore platforms in Norway to distributed small onshore pads across the USA.
Nick Purday, architect of emerging digital at ConocoPhillips, revealed their innovative approach to creating spatially accurate digital twins at remarkably low costs. They distributed 3D cameras to operators, resulting in documentation of 127 sites with over 20,000 images at a cost of just $190 per site.
The comprehensive documentation enables engineers and designers to work more efficiently. The digital twins allow teams to see as-built conditions next to as-designed specifications and assign work with precise 2D and three-dimensional location information for assets.
For more detailed capture, ConocoPhillips employs terrestrial lidar with scanners on backpacks, creating models that can be used to take accurate measurements. The team is also working on integrating subsurface data and ground-truthing with RTK GPS surveys for increased accuracy where it can deliver higher value.
Chevron also presented their approach to digital reality with their Atlas Platform. Steve Huerta, product manager for Enterprise Geospatial at Chevron, detailed how they’re creating a standardized approach to managing the 22TB of imagery they’ve already processed, with an anticipated 39TB more to come. Their platform leverages the Spatio- Temporal Asset Catalog (STAC) standard to align with industry practices and understand data lineage while creating interoperability between ArcGIS and other tools.
In another innovative implementation, Sarah Gomez from Esri demonstrated enhancing plant operations by fusing aerial photography with 3D models to create fast, detailed views of facilities. This approach allows for “the 3D reality fused with 2D data” to map networks for water, steam, fiber, and power, then using the data in day-to-day plant operations.
Nature Based Solutions Summit
A highlight of the 2025 ERGIS conference was the dedicated Nature Based Solutions (NbS) Summit, held on April 30th. This gathering brought together around 50 forward-thinking leaders and experts to explore how innovative, nature-based strategies are shaping the future of energy resilience.
The NbS event was led by Sarah Eshpeter, forestry and nature-based solutions expert, Ryan Farmer, solution engineer, and Rebecca Kahrhoff, industry solutions manager from Esri’s Natural Resources team. The morning session offered a deep dive into the popular topic of harnessing ecosystem services to address environmental challenges. Also, managing operations to deliver healthy ecosystems and biodiversity, essential for services like carbon sequestration, water filtration, and climate resilience. For energy companies, NbS has been shown to enhance sustainability, reduce emissions, and restore ecological balance while providing economic and societal benefits.
The four-step approach to apply GIS to NbS action included:
- Mapping a baseline of assets and operations to see the whole system
- Conducting suitability modeling to evaluate risks and opportunities
- Creating a digital twin to track changes and adapt quickly in real-time
- Mapping to communicate and report impact through compelling narratives that explain what organizations are doing and why it matters
The NbS panel discussion featured industry experts including Joel Glaze from ExxonMobil, Mark Corrao from Barr Geospatial, Pete Aniello from Woodside Energy. They discussed the Paris Agreement’s impact on voluntary carbon markets, challenges with unscrupulous carbon offset players, and the emergence of biodiversity credits in places like New Zealand and Australia.
The summit emphasized the value of nature-based solutions to transform sustainability and resilience in the energy sector.
Industry Tracks and Specialized Sessions
The middle part of the conference was organized into three main tracks spanning a day and a half, focused on Oil & Gas, Pipeline and Renewables—allowing attendees to delve into industry-specific applications of geospatial technology.
The Renewables track featured sessions on advancing site selection, highlighting how Lightsource BP developed a global framework for site evaluation. Other sessions explored collaboration across renewable portfolios, with Pattern Energy sharing how geospatial workflows supported the development of the SunZia Wind and Transmission project.
In the Pipeline track, Williams IT GIS demonstrated how they use ArcGIS Monitor to optimize their enterprise GIS implementations. The track also featured sessions on enterprise GIS planning, field operations, compliance, and reporting for pipeline operations.
The Oil & Gas sessions included presentations from Equinor on their journey to integrate and democratize GIS services, Coterra Energy’s development of apps for water pipeline projects, and ExxonMobil’s innovative use of the digital reality ecosystem for operations. Other highlights included discussions on geospatial modernization and enhancing business continuity through sustainable operations.
Collaborative Focus
What made ERGIS unique was its emphasis on cross-industry collaboration. Dal Hunter noted that the event brought together professionals from diverse geographic areas including Alaska, Europe, Africa (Ghana), and Asia. He emphasized that one of the main conference objectives was “learning from others so we all don’t run into the same roadblocks.”
To that end and in the spirit of collaboration, the final day of the conference alongside Esri technical presentations, featured special interest group meetings, supporting Young Professionals, Small to Medium Businesses, Geospatial Users in Clean Energy (GUiCE), PUG, PODS, and OSDU collaborators.
The first few years of the conference primarily focused on upstream operations in O&G, but over time the event has steadily expanded to include midstream and downstream sectors, renewables and now low-carbon solutions. Hunter observed that of-late, interest in the operational aspects “exploded, with an eye on efficiency,” covering everything from infrastructure integrity to the build-out of renewable energy projects.
This collaborative spirit was evident throughout the conference’s specialized summits and track sessions. The Petroleum User Group (PUG) and Geographic Users in Clean Energy (GUiCE) each highlighted year-round events and opportunities to enhance knowledge sharing throughout the year.
As the 35th such ERGIS/PUG conference came to a close, the enduring message was one of continual digital transformation, guided by geographic thinking and GIS technologies. In the energy industry’s rapidly evolving landscape, geospatial technology provides a vital perspective to inform decision-making and drive efficiency, while minimizing environmental impact. By bringing together diverse professionals with the common tool of GIS, the ERGIS conference continues to help shape the future of energy.
The Proceedings and Plenary video from the event have begun to be posted, as have a few photos, and it is expected that the energy and enthusiasm displayed at ERGIS will continue at the Esri User Conference, July 14-18, in San Diego.
