For many in the energy industry, such predictions may sound all too familiar.

Over the last two decades, companies have put hundreds of millions of dollars into new digital technologies, often with limited results. Around 2008, when oil hit a record $147 a barrel, analysts said many oil majors spent big on data centers and advanced software programs, only to see such projects be outpaced by those from IBM, Amazon and Microsoft, which could offer similar computing power at a fraction of the cost.

The recent protracted slump in global energy prices — the average oil price is still down about 60 percent since 2014 — has focused minds on more basic restructuring, with job cuts and asset sales taking precedence over sensors and data science. A longstanding skepticism about untested technology also has pushed the industry to the bottom of the class compared with other sectors when handling all things digital, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

“In the 2000s, resistance to technology was everywhere,” said Nate Clark, an energy partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in Houston. “People tried to do too much, too fast.”

Despite some continuing resistance, the industry's technological credibility has been burnished by the recent shale revolution, which is driven by tech advances in drilling techniques, data crunching and other improvements aimed at making the sector more nimble as global oil and natural gas prices fluctuate. Roughly two-thirds of energy companies, according to a recent study by Ernst & Young, the consulting firm, have spent at least $100 million on data analytics over the last two years, a rise over previous years.

With an eye still on cutting costs, companies are nevertheless increasing their commitments to digital. In Southern France, Total recently tripled the computing power of its in-house supercomputer, making it the 11th most powerful machine in the world, according to Top500, a data provider. And in Houston, BP is spending $100 million by 2018 on its own supercomputer to help engineers better analyze the company’s energy assets around the world.

“The amount of data is like a tsunami coming at us,” said Keith Grey, who runs BP’s supercomputer center. “We’re gaining advantages that will be hard for others to try and match.”

Finding new ways of using that data also has become a priority.

In Western Australia, Woodside Energy, one of the nation’s largest oil and natural gas producers, has placed roughly 200,000 sensors throughout its $10 billion liquefied natural gas plant. The goal was to pull together real-time data that could flag potential problems before they caused major disruptions.