There is no doubt that you already have some very talented people working in your organization. They've been working hard to help increase production and profits in your operation, and now it's time to help them. Added stress from fewer skilled workers in the workforce can escalate to burn out, safety risks, and lost production that can all quickly add up to lost time, lost profits and serious risk factors to people everywhere.

Upskill your people (help people increase their skills) and optimize their own performance with a few easy to implement ideas that can take your operations to the next level of performance in a very short amount of time - all while increasing your people's abilities, confidence and produce positive short and long term outcomes.

Many people enjoy knowing every little detail about something, even if it doesn't really correlate directly to them. All the power to them! Personally, I like people to get right to the point; tell me what I need to know - Don't dance around what you're trying to say, or give me so much info it makes my head spin.

Please, please, please just be clear and concise.

I'm pretty sure companies and their staff also want their data straightforward and easy to understand. Not such a large amount of data that drowns them with every tiny detail that isn't relevant, or actionable. Sometimes too much data can become pretty much useless because it would take you hours to filter through it all to find the data you actually do need.

When someone mentions something like 'cloud-native IIoT' do your teeth start to clench in stress and you immediately begin to search for your antacids to ward off the quickly approaching heartburn that comes with the topic? I hear you, understand your anxiety and totally feel your pain because I've been there many times before.

That's until I started thinking of IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) differently; what it really 'means' to us, the humans of the world. How it can actually help makes our lives better in several ways; like increasing the safety of many very dangerous situations, how it can even prevent terrible problems before they even happen and how it can make companies be more profitable so more people keep their jobs and prices don't over-inflate for the end buyers.

Companies can now measure almost every single aspect of business activity due to various analytic tools and management software. Often, they have advanced datasets to explore their performance because there are so many metrics to measure.

While navigating various datasets, anything outside the norm would be considered an anomaly. Different anomalies can have an enormous impact on business decisions, operational results, and management’s ability to respond rapidly and accurately.

Operational reporting is imperative for any business, regardless of size or industry. Reports provide a means to track and analyze your operations' performance and overall health while identifying areas for improvement and insights for future growth.

Consistent reporting and monitoring of operations inform senior management and other stakeholders about what is happening within their organization.

Monitoring and controlling the traditional pump jacks you see bowing and rising along oilfield roads has some limitations. But today, through digital transformation, we’re using data to improve management of all wells, including the rod-pumped variety

A flowing well with a low gas-to-oil ratio needs little hands-on management, but you still need to track production and watch for pump failures or rod parts. Remote monitoring removes the need for a pumper to visually inspect the site daily—and it removes the chances that the well could break down right after he drives away, leaving it unproductive for a day or so.

Remember pouring over page after page of perfectly normal well data, line by line, just looking for the occasional telltale anomaly that might indicate a problem requiring attention? Or copying and pasting lines of production data into a spreadsheet to track trends?

Oh, you remember that too well because—it was just this morning? So, you don’t have a way to distill all that data into a graph or chart so you can instantly spot spikes, valleys and trends?

Do you remember that old joke "Pete and Repeat went on a boat ride. Pete fell off, so who was left?" The answer was of course is "Repeat" and therefore the kid telling the joke would once again repeat the first line, and on and on... I'm often haunted by that horrible joke almost as if the joke is truly on me when I tackle mind-numbing tasks like laundry; wash, dry, fold, put away and then do it again, and again, and again...

I think about Pete and Repeat on that boat. I can't help but wonder where was the Captain of that boat? Why didn't the Captain step in and direct them both to hunker down, and grab a hold to stop falling off?

If you ask around for a single term that describes getting the right production data, most engineers in oil and gas would hesitate to say “simple” or “straightforward.” Here at DeltaV SaaS SCADA, data is our thing; we live it and breathe it – heck, some of us even dream about it - you can’t control when innovation may strike! Our customers continue to benefit from solutions that are streamlined and straightforward thanks to our software development and engineering people.

After all, the value of production data could not be simpler: optimizing production leads to increased profitability. That said, here are my top 5 tips to help increase your oil and gas production:

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.