Smart phones and other devices have become essential tools to navigate our daily life, helping us to read news, contact friends, and see new photos of loved ones. But beyond that, smart phones and tablets have become a part of the standard toolbox for any working professional. In the Oil and Gas sector, mobile access has become a requirement for an increasingly connected workforce. As of 2016, 80% of O&G CEOs we surveyed plan to invest the same or more into digital technologies over the next 3-5 years.

The cost of unplanned maintenance activities such as replacing or repairing failed equipment is high; lost production, expensive labor (call outs, overtime) and damaged equipment adds up.

Unplanned maintenance will always be a part of your maintenance strategy but to rely on it solely has a number of disadvantages that can greatly impact your oil and gas production, safety and sustainability.

Zedi Vital is a web based Field Data Capture Application, which is the gathering and analyzing of manually entered, imported or, electronically updated production data for different well and facility types. With this system you are able to set up many different users, with different levels of access being Admin, Operator, JV or Reporting.

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 analysis and decisions.

IoT inevitably involves sensors, wireless technology of some description, a cloud to aggregate data, and analytics to create insights from this data.  Many people have encountered this business paradigm in their personal lives, whether it is through wearable fitness trackers (maybe you are counting steps, and then uploading that information to an App on your smart-phone or into the cloud), your internet-connected Emerson thermostat, household security system, or your smart TV.  These are consumer examples of the IoT phenomenon, and collectively are described as the wearables or Smart Home sub-segments.

It’s that time of the year again; no, not taxes, EPAP. Are you ready? Do you have a method or a process in place? Although there are many steps involved, the following will give you a glimpse of what an effective EPAP process looks like.

In World Oil's article, "What's New in Artificial Lift?", I outlined key features and benefits of the TCB Manufacturing SilverJack system. The SilverJack artificial lift system is a unique combination of a surface hydraulic lift solution with a powerful integrated controller combined with Emerson's Zedi web-based, cloud-native IIoT platform data collection, management, and control system that provides the capability to remotely detect and resolve many common problems encountered with conventional downhole rod pumping equipment.

Like many places around the globe that produce oil and gas, in Canada the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has specific rules for oil, gas, and related hydrocarbon sampling and analysis in Section 8 of Directive 017. This covers the type of sample to be taken, the analysis procedure, and what the resulting compositions are to be recorded.

We will take a look at what these mean and how to implement a strategy for compliance and some of the tools you may find helpful to get there.

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.