Internet of Things in Oil and Gas Industry

The oil and gas industry is surrounded by complex affairs. It’s OPEC vs. US, production decline, divestments, and climate lawsuits. There seems to be no end to the vagaries in the industry. “What’s Next?” that’s the question in every mind of the oil and gas industry professional. And, the answer lies in one of the latest technologies – Internet of Things (IoT). Internet of Things in oil and gas industry can reshape its future. And, we are going to investigate the same, in this blog.

What is Internet of Things?

Internet of Things’ premise is that devices should be able to communicate with each other. Let us understand it this way, you have a smartphone and there are a lot of objects and devices which you interact on a day in and day out basis – juicer, coffee machine, lights, fan, AC, car etc. So, what happens with IoT is that all your devices are connected to a cloud, a network. And, you can control these devices by your smartphone.

Hence, IoT can be defined as an interconnected network of devices which can be controlled by the user when connected with a Wi-Fi or an internet service.

Sources have it that by 2020, the number of devices which shall be connected to the IoT can go over 25 billion.

What is the use of this technology in the oil and gas industry?

Some quick facts:

1. If a single pump fails to operate in a way it is ought to each day an oil and gas company can suffer anywhere between $100,000 and $300,000 loss of production.
2. The annual loss of revenue due to leakages, thefts etc. globally in the oil and gas industry are over $37 billion.
3. There is a $200 billion performance gap between the global leaders of the oil and gas industry and an average oil company.

Surprising, right? The numbers say it all. But at the heart of all these problems lies the biggest problem: integration.

What we, as an industry, is facing a huge lack of grievance redressal. A lot of downtime failures can be prevented. And, how? – Internet of Things can be an answer.

Here is a list of advantages of having IoT in the oil and gas industry:

1. Preventive Maintenance – Improved maintenance of the reservoir can be done using IoT. What we call, NPT (Non-productive time) can be reduced drastically.
2. Real-time monitoring – Any operator or control engineer can dextrously monitor an array of connected devices. Real-time data like temperature, pressure, chemical composition etc. can help the operator in more than one ways.
3. Better control of running devices – When we are in the know-how of what devices are doing, a better decision can be made.
4. Reduction in health and safety hazards – Safety is one of the prime concerns in the oil and gas industry. And, if any anomaly during the running operation of any device is detected, it can be immediately worked upon.
5. Monitoring of emissions – Oil production comes in the bad light when it comes to environmental concerns. It is sometimes hard to monitor what impact any hydrocarbon production might lead to, or say, in practical scenario things get out of control it can be handled if constant monitoring is available.

Conclusion – Productivity can easily be increased. And, so can profitability be. At a fraction of investment, if the oil and gas companies realise that a minute attention to technologies likes IoT is paid, they can do wonders to the business.

It’s for the oil and gas companies to decide to give technology a fair chance to deal with problems.