I’ve been an obsessed angler for years. I don’t need a special reason, or day to go fishing either – I go any chance I get. Sunny 108-degree Texas days, chilly Christmas mornings, or drizzly-grey cool days, it doesn't matter to me.

It isn’t about the temperature, or location – it’s simply about the experience.

There is something about the peacefulness of being on the lake, or a river that captures my senses, and instantly relaxes me, while at the same time ignites my creative side with a new sense unlimited possibilities. It isn’t the excitement of actually catching a fish at all (since it’s not my favorite meal) – but it’s the experience that captivates my mind, warms my soul, and energizes my spirit.

The holiday season is here and no matter which holiday(s) you celebrate (or not), it's a change in the season that affects everyone. Traffic is more hectic as the time draws near, and chances are pretty good that those that said last year that they will be better prepared for the next holiday season, are not.

Most of us will being getting more than enough of an emotional charge from watching way too many of the Christmas movies on TV that we watch every year that always manage to bring our senses to a yearly high. Many of us have family and friends coming to our homes, and we'll will be in a rush to make it a ‘perfect day’ and in a full on panic to get all the details just right to make it memorial, and joyous for all.

The basic formula for increasing oil well production is pretty clear to me: the more the pump runs, the more oil it pumps. The real issue is how to reduce downtime, so that it runs more, and pumps more.

What wasn't clear to me is why on earth about 100,000 pumpjacks in the US alone are not monitored—other than by someone driving all the way out to the well site every couple of days. With that method, a pump may have been down, or even worse leaking for a day or so before it’s noticed by anyone. That’s several hours of production time that can never be recovered.

Our accomplished team of developers and IIoT experts drive our innovative platform enhancements to give you
leading-edge data to promote your production, profits and sustainability to new heights.

In this infographic we decided on our favorite Zedi Access updates for 2018, we hope these are some of your favorites too! [Infographic]

Things used to be so much simpler. Every home had one phone line. Every store took cash or checks, and almost every well had a rod pump over its whole life span.

Complexity though, can be really great for your bottom line.

With cell phones, we can call for help from just about anywhere. Debit cards are way faster than check writing. And using a series of unconventional lifting methods on unconventional wells is unlocking much stronger potential for oil and gas production—and profitability that we could only dream of a few short years ago.

From 1859, when Colonel Edwin Drake successfully drilled America’s first oil well in Pennsylvania and over the next several decades, the oil and gas business was primarily driven by manual labor. 

This meant high vehicle mileage, and lost production time because pumpers and engineers were constantly needed on location, which resulted in operational inefficiencies and many safety issues. Until the introduction of automation technology into the oil and gas industry.

As automation technology has progressed, from cable tools to rotary drills; from car phones to palm-sized smart phones; from desktop computers for accounting to ubiquitous sensors sending big data through the cloud to smart devices; oilfield efficiency has continued to cut costs, save time, boost production and improve safety.

For years now we’ve been able to monitor tank levels, compressors, pump operations and flow meters. Most of that is pretty cut-and-dried. The tank is at whatever level it’s at; the pump is either running or it’s not. An alarm tells us what we need to know the minute we need to know it.

But detecting a pipeline leak involves combining a number of data points and deciding which ones, or which combination of points, means there really is a leak. I’m stressing “really” because the industry first believed any anomaly needed to be alarmed because at that point an anomaly equaled leak, and we defiantly know the faster that leak could be stopped, and repaired; the more profits from your production ended up staying in your pocket.

Maybe the most important thing to learn about safety is that it’s a team effort. If one person makes a safety mistake, other team members are at risk, even if those others are doing everything right.

In other words, on the job site, you are indeed your brother’s (and sister’s) keeper.

Safety involves training, reinforcement and engineering to reduce hazards.

Do you have one of those little voices in your head that tells you to take safety shortcuts on home projects? Like when you don’t turn off the breaker before replacing a plug, it says, “What could go wrong?”