Helping crews arrive quickly and safely at their destination helps them be more productive, maximizes satisfaction, and safeguards business continuity. In the oil and gas industry, large crews often travel long distances and to remote, hard-to-reach locations. Coordinating this travel efficiently can be challenging, especially when organizations must respond rapidly to unexpected demands, move crews at scale, prioritize safety, and comply with company policies. A unified travel management approach with efficient, standardized processes makes it easier to act fast. With American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), organizations can achieve up to 90% time savings per booking compared to manual processes – with average transaction times under 15 seconds. This speed helps prevent costly delays so crews can get where they’re needed – faster and safer. Here are three ways oil and gas companies can optimize efficiency and resiliency across global crew travel:

1. Simplify travel management with centralized booking and automation

For energy companies, getting crew to the right location on time, whether it’s a major city or a remote offshore platform, is critical to keep operations running smoothly. But coordinating these journeys with precision can be time-consuming and complex, especially when safety, compliance, and employee experience are all at stake. To help meet these challenges, Amex GBT provides centralized booking and standardized travel processes that streamline coordination without compromising attention to detail. Backed by two decades of benchmarking with 20 of the largest companies in the energy sector, Amex GBT's travel optimization technology is designed to meet the complex needs of the industry. For example, we use pre-approved routing, so oil and gas companies can take advantage of the most efficient routes and simplify compliance with internal policies. Identifying and using the best routes can also enhance employee productivity by getting them to the right location in the fastest way.

2. Minimize delays with integrated approval workflows

Unpredictable events such as weather-related delays or visa issues can result in last-minute alterations, such as extended hotel stays, rebooked flights, or changes to routes. Organizations need consistent and streamlined approvals processes so they can make rapid, informed decisions and reduce the likelihood of delays which could result in business disruption. To support a rapid response to unpredictable events, Amex GBT provides integrated expense and approval workflows. With automated approvals processes, booking emergency flights can happen without delay. Organizations also benefit from greater visibility, making it faster and easier to reimburse employee expenses, in turn maximizing their satisfaction.

3. Improve visibility with advanced analytics

To enhance productivity and resiliency, it’s important to understand your organization’s travel patterns. Manual or disparate approaches can make it harder to gain the transparency needed to streamline travel and planning. With intuitive dashboards and sophisticated analytics that are tailored to the industry, Amex GBT helps energy companies better understand their travel requirements. Comprehensive visibility across the organization helps pinpoint opportunities for greater efficiency, whether by changing routes or exploring different modes of transport. Our solutions include demand forecasting, so organizations know what to expect and can be ready for seasonal peaks. This also underpins the ability to negotiate with travel vendors and dynamic pricing models, so they can get the best deals.

Streamline your travel program with Amex GBT.

With the right tools, intelligence, and support, oil and gas companies can deliver a streamlined travel program that is efficient to run while preserving operational standards and enhancing employee experiences. To find out how you can build an efficient travel program that’s tailored to your needs, talk to our experts today.