In just one year—2022-2023—ransomware attacks on operational technology (OT) in the United States increased by 50 percent, according to cyber security experts at Dragos, in their 2023 Year in Review. And cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks reported that 70 percent of industrial firms suffered a cyber attack in 2023 (The State of OT Security […]
Lifting Well
The concept of the rod pump can be traced back to the Roman Empire. Roman engineers used something that looks amazingly like today’s version to pump water. But other common oilfield lift strategies would not look familiar to Pliny the Elder, who recorded those Roman ideas for posterity. Electric submersible pumps and various gas lift […]
Top Flight Service
How much does Permian Basin oilfield activity affect Basin aviation activity? It’s pretty much a direct, non-stop connection. According to Justine Ruff, director of airports at the Midland International Air and Space Port, “enplanements” are up exponentially right now. An enplanement, per the definition she gave, is “a passenger getting on an airplane and flying […]
Information Technology Flips a Switch
From its beginning in simply reporting when a pump shuts down, to now predicting that event before it happens, information technology has greatly evolved in the last 10 years—and that evolution is only getting faster. No longer is it enough to have the data—it’s necessary to maximize it. Operations like artificial intelligence, machine learning, data […]
Q&A: Helping Operators to Optimize Production from Complex Shale Reservoirs
For shale operators, midstream companies, and gathering network or saltwater distribution network owners, it can be difficult to uncover how to get the most production and overcome operational challenges in the field. Schlumberger’s Serdar Atmaca, Business Development Manager – Digital Ops Solutions, and Nicolas Gomez Bustamante, Principal Production Engineer – Digital Ops Solutions, explain how […]
Left to Their Own Devices
By Paul Wiseman Overwatch Solutions owner Brandon Crate likes catching perpetrators on camera. Cognite’s Global VP of Partner Success, Prabu Parthasarathy, loves consolidating and freeing corporate data from siloes. ATI’s (Automation Technology Inc.) CEO, Cooper Etheridge, is dedicated to being able to relieve pipeline pressure to avoid problems. All three employ technology to automate […]
Cyber Security: “A Marathon, Not a Sprint”
By Paul Wiseman The great majority of successful hacks—for ransomware, spyware, information theft, or just plain chaos—come through human error. That is, someone opened a phishing email and entered a password or account number. But three oil and gas industry security experts said that, while education on that front is vital and ongoing, hackers are […]
Technologies Provider Opens New Midland Outlet
Intelligent Wellhead Systems, Inc. (IWS), a supplier of digital control technologies for improving oil and gas well completion operations, recently opened a new base of operations in Midland. Officials for the company said that rapid adoption of automation technology and digital solutions for completions drove the need for local customer support, logistics, and a full-service […]
IT Helps People Be More Efficient
by Paul Wiseman At the dawn of the digital oilfield age, many staffers worried about being rendered obsolete by the efficiencies inherent in automation. Since the upheaval of COVID-related workplace changes, employees have left the oil patch in droves. For many oil and gas operators, making the remaining workers more efficient by employing automation and […]
Pipe Goes High Tech
One wouldn’t think that something as simple as a cylinder would offer many prospects for innovation. But one would be wrong. The metal cylinder known as pipe has attracted a wave of innovation and sophistication in the shale era. Oilfield pipe, commonly described as “oil country tubular goods, or OCTG, falls into four categories: drill […]
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