Science fiction abounds with stories of robot or computer takeovers, from 2001 A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000 to Dr. Who’s Cyber Men—along with the flip side, the original Star Trek’s “Spock’s Brain” episode where the bad guys hooked Spock’s brain up to the system that controlled their civilization’s air conditioning and other processes. Whether any […]
Cyber’s New Era
Friday, May 7, 2021, may have been the wakeup call for any corporation thinking it was immune to cyberattacks of any sort, including ransomware. Alarms certainly went off in Alpharetta, Ga., then, at the home of Colonial Pipeline, the U.S.’s largest pipeline system for refined petroleum products. After a few days and a $4.4-$5 million […]
Pigging Comes of Age
The lowly and usually invisible pipeline pig is not just an oilfield tool. Any industry that uses a pipeline to transfer liquid from place to place uses pigs to clean the insides and to check structural integrity. Food, industrial chemicals, water, and other fluids can flow a few feet across a plant or thousands of […]
“Never Going Back”
From the drill bit to the back office, information technology’s efficiencies and insights are helping the oil and gas industry survive and even thrive in more and more new ways every day. Case in point: a line on the Erdos Miller website points out that, 10 years ago, the words “technology” and “completions” would not […]
Crash Opens Doors for Industry to Adopt Efficiencies in Productivity Software
Some geologists use a word, catastrophism, to describe what they see as sudden upheavals found in the geologic record. Mass extinctions, worldwide volcanic activity and things like that are included. Catastrophism could certainly describe recent workplace changes, resulting in a ramping up of reliance on technology including hardware, software and connectivity. Rob Roberts, director in […]
The AI Factor
AI as a concept is way past its sweet sixteen, but only in recent years has it become confident enough to learn to drive. Sooner than later it will be fully licensed and out on the streets. It’s the same in the Oil Patch, say experts. Companies are relying on AI for more and more […]
Taking Flight
As a cash-strapped oil patch wrestles with the competing issues of staffing and funding, more and more companies turn to various forms of automation/artificial intelligence and robotics in order to do more work with fewer people. In that scenario, drones have flown to the forefront as they’ve become more powerful and versatile. Advances in recording […]
Data Security: Staying a Step Ahead
Any conversation with a corporate IT or cybersecurity person very quickly includes the phrase “It’s not if, but when and how bad” when the topic is the likelihood of being hacked. Employing good security measures in hardware, software, and the most important factor—people—does provide great protection. But, like Luke Skywalker slipping a bomb into a […]
Exxon, Pioneer, 3 others launch “Project Astra” network to detect emissions
Five industry groups, including Irving companies ExxonMobil and Pioneer Natural Resources, said this week they are collaborating on a new sensor network to monitor methane emissions in Permian Basin. Officials said Project Astra could revolutionize the way leaks are found and repaired. Joining Exxon and Pioneer are Gas Technology Institute, Environmental Defense Fund, and University […]
Cybertech’s New Norm
As the principal adversary hunter at Dragos, Joe Slowik is tasked with finding, tracking, and deleting malicious actors. Having seen firsthand the havoc that industrial control system adversaries can wreak on organizations both large and small, Slowik does not mince words: the threats and risks are real and potentially life threatening—i.e., sabotage of worksite safety […]
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