SYNOPSIS

As organizations strive to optimize expertise across geographically dispersed assets, remote engineering support has evolved from a cost-saving concept into a strategic capability that enhances safety, reliability, performance, and operational excellence. This session explores how engineering teams can successfully provide high-value technical support without being physically located at the asset.

Drawing on practical experiences from remote asset support centers, discipline engineering support models, and digital-enabled operations, the talk will examine the essential building blocks of successful remote engineering delivery. Topics include defining clear interfaces between site and remote teams, establishing governance and accountability, leveraging digital tools and data for diagnostics and decision-making, managing technical risk, and developing the competencies required to build trust with frontline operations.

Participants will gain insights into how remote engineers support maintenance, operations, integrity management, reliability improvement, projects, and threat management while maintaining strong engagement with asset teams. The session will also discuss common challenges such as limited data visibility, changing operational priorities, stakeholder alignment, and balancing responsiveness with technical rigor.

Through case studies and lessons learned, attendees will discover how remote engineering support can improve productivity, accelerate problem solving, reduce dependency on third-party services, and enable organizations to scale scarce technical expertise across multiple assets. The presentation concludes with a vision for the future of remote engineering, where digital technologies, predictive analytics, and centralized engineering hubs work together to create smarter, more resilient operations.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

A seasoned engineering leader with more than 17 years of experience across upstream oil & gas, LNG, GTL, and global operations support. Patricia Ong currently serves as a Facilities Engineering Lead, leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and driving operational excellence, digital transformation, reliability improvement, and organizational capability development across global assets.

Known as a causal thinker, digital evangelist, and change agent, she has successfully delivered business value through reliability-centered maintenance, brownfield project execution, process optimization, data-driven decision making, and community leadership. Her passion for mentoring and coaching has helped develop engineering talent and strengthen technical capabilities across organizations.

Patricia Ong holds a Master of Petroleum Technology from Curtin University and is a Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP), bringing deep expertise in engineering governance, reliability management, digitalization, and leadership of high-performing global teams.