In the oil and gas industry, cold, hard data greatly informs an upstream operator when it looks to predict the future direction of the market and chart the course of its business strategy.A substantial rise in the price of oil might mean previously shelved, investment intensive projects are dusted off and reignited. A spike in the price of other commodities, such as steel or aluminum, could mean original equipment manufacturers (OEM) will bump up the prices of manifolds or subsea trees…