It’s pretty amazing to watch the pace of mergers and acquisitions these days. Oil and gas producers are working hard to maximize investments in an economy that’s better than it was, but still not where everyone would like it to be.

Even so, it’s one thing to sign a contract to acquire a new field, and it’s another thing to handle the new field’s SCADA systems, data and controls. The question is, do you accept the system that’s there and train your people on yet another software package? Or do you spend possibly tens of thousands of dollars and weeks of time replacing their system with your own—and if you do that, what happens to the legacy data they’d already collected?

I don’t know about you, but I love the smell of freshly-baked bread. Or chocolate cake. Or cookies. There’s just nothing like tasting hot-from-the-oven baked goods! Keeping fresh bread coming takes effort and attention to detail. Not everyone wants to do it themselves, and not everyone knows how.

It’s the same with well monitoring software. As needs change and as programmers find faster and better ways to collect and manage data, software must also be kept fresh. That’s what we do with DeltaV SaaS SCADA, Asset Protect (asset management and PM scheduling) and DeltaV SaaS SCADA Mobile (our app).

What if we could help you know about production issues instantly, anywhere in the world? 
What if all relevant personnel got that information in an easy-to-read dashboard at the same time? 
What if that same information system helped valves and pumps self-monitor so they required less oversight?

You’re probably familiar with remote monitoring and control through hardware and software that collect and analyze data then issue reports. Collectively this is known as the Industrial Internet of Things, or IIoT.  It allows people and machines to maximize efficiency, boosting production and reduce the people hours involved so you can focus on more important things.

Times have been tough. We have all seen volatility and uncertainty in our industries through the years. Companies have been making changes to their structure and processes to be more efficient and less wasteful.

Like most people, you probably have asked yourself how you can streamline your processes without sacrificing speed or quality. We’ve created several ways to help you do that. One that we'll dig into today is how to manage your lab sampling program with speed and ease to give you more time to focus on your core business.

There has been much discussion through the years in many sectors of the economy around what the “Internet of Things” (IoT) can do to transform the way we work and live.  In brief, the IoT is about networking “things” like devices and even life-forms so that information may be collected from these things over time and form the basis for in-depth analysis and better decisions.

Producers in Alberta are subject to  measurement schematics regulations as part of Directive 017. Do you have questions about what you need to do to remain compliant? In this blog post, we hope to give answers to some of those questions to help you get there.

What facilities do I need to create measurement schematics for?

Producers must have a well detailed measurement schematic for all active facilities, with no grandfathering for active facilities. Any reactivated facility must have an up-to-date schematic within three months of reactivation or after the implementation period, whichever is later.

SCADA and other remote monitoring systems introduced a step change to the industry in the area of operational efficiency by providing a positive impact on run-time, production and reduced operating costs. However, with low commodity prices and lower producing wells, there is still a challenge for business cases to justify putting monitoring on all assets.

As oil and gas producers look to find efficiencies in their production operations, the first and best solution to discuss is adding automation to their well site operations. Traditionally, some may be hesitant to implement a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, due to the initial capital costs involved and complexity. However, when one is looking at reducing total operational costs and increasing recoverable reserves, the positives from investing in SCADA become clear, especially when one considers the increased affordability brought by modern technology. 

Remote locations with industrial assets that don't have anyone locally monitoring performance need alarms (for starters). Alarms can be used to monitor data for anything out of the ordinary, catching smaller deviations, and alerting an operator to a possible situation before it escalates. When it comes to effective remote operations management, there are few better tools available than alarming capabilities.