Here's How IoT Can Transform the Oil and Gas Sector

By CIOReview | Monday, July 6, 2020

FREMONT, CA: Crude oil is one of the most traded and valuable commodities in the world as it impacts almost every sector of the global economy. Currently, it is the most important source for both fuel and energy that drives virtually every known industry. The oil and gas industry is solely responsible for the exploring and refining of the crude. To extract raw oil from deep grounds, Exploration and Production (E&P) companies along with oilfield service (OFS) providers leverage machineries such as wellheads and pumpjacks. To extract oil from deep ocean floors systems such as Subsea Christmas trees and AMF Deadman are used.

Oil and Gas companies either use huge pipeline networks or third-party vendors who transport oil via railways, ships, and trucks for effective transportation of crude. Oil refineries are a massive part of the downstream segment of the oil and gas industry and are mainly responsible for generating petroleumbased products. This complex system of turning crude oil into refined products is full of several challenges. The challenges such as increased equipment complexity, oil-theft, and increase in carbon emission lead to severe, social, political, and environmental implications. Thus, companies associated with the oil and gas industry are always on the lookout for tools and technologies that can help them tackle these challenges. The Internet of Things (IoT) with advanced analytics and telematics capabilities enables oil companies to get rid of these challenges.

IoT presents opportunities to the oil and gas sector to make groundbreaking developments. IoT companies provide end-toend solutions that allow their users the power to monitor the performance of their assets from remote locations. Companies systematically design platforms that have high-tech electronics and a highly configured IoT dashboard suite to track industrial operations. IoT systems have features like advanced analytics, telemetry, and cognition capabilities offer a lot of benefits to the oil and gas industry. The features mentioned above are transforming the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the oil and gas industry. Furthermore, IoT allows oil and gas companies to improve asset and plant efficiency.

Generally, oil extraction plants are located in remote areas that are influenced by extreme environmental conditions. Manual inspection of heavy machinery bears a lot of difficulty and risks of worker safety. Besides, all the machinery works in tandem, and even a minor malfunction can put a halt on the entire operation. With IoT, extraction and production, companies can place sensors and meters to measure different parameters like pressure, temperature, humidity, and more. Moreover, the system alarms the staff when a particular variable crosses the permissible range.

Every industry has to manage its assets and maintain their efficiency. IoT offers predictive analytics which enables monitoring of assets and machines. With the help of IoT, the oil and gas industry can extend the life of their expensive equipment. It allows users to keep track of different components related to the working of machines from a remote location. Constant monitoring saves a company’s cost and time associated with random inspection and maintenance and enhances the overall efficiency of the company, its assets and machines.