The oil and gas industry has been working toward the digital oil field of the future, with the goal of being able to monitor and manage in real time all operational activities along the entire oil value chain. In this article Johannesburg based, Nicholas Graham Harris Head of Oil & Gas Practice, Cisco, Africa, Middle East, Russia CIS discusses how with a standard IP networking solution, companies can now begin to implement this vision by focusing on a new technology solution called the ‘First Mile’ which is where the oil wells and other assets of the exploration and production (E&P) companies are. These assets—land-based fields and pumps, offshore drilling rigs, production platforms, and mobile field management operations—are located in remote areas with harsh environments.

The ‘First Mile’ in the oil field refers to the critical connectivity of drilling sites or producing fields into a wider network. The new solution will create the platform for advanced sense-and-respond capabilities that enhance asset productivity and optimization.

A ‘First Mile Wireless solution’ offers the oil and gas industry an important step toward a complete digital oilfield. First Mile Wireless provides integrated, high-speed connectivity that extends the office experience out to oil and gas fields, creating the platform for advanced sense-and-respond capabilities that enhance asset productivity and optimization.
The secure connectivity provided by the First Mile Wireless solution is a critical early step towards the digital oil field. It enables operators and their partners to better manage drilling and production operations through an innovative fabric of wireless sensors, distributed computing networks, and service-oriented applications.

Improving Productivity Through a Wireless Environment
Oil and gas exploration and production companies see an increasing need to improve visibility to the edge of their operations. By unwiring the first mile, these companies will be able to:

• Improve decision making by sensing the current state of the asset and responding more rapidly
• Improve efficiencies by giving field workers access to applications and data at the point of activity
• Improve knowledge transfer between experienced staff and their younger colleagues
• Improve productivity by analyzing data in real time to predict problems and take early corrective action

To make these advances, oil and gas companies need a number of solutions including high-speed, secure access for data, voice, and video communications; high-frequency, secure data collection for improved visibility; improved operational workflows to take advantage of improved visibility and a rich collaboration environment between field and central office workers.

First Mile Wireless will help to extend the “observe, orient, decide, and act” cycle from the office through the first mile to the exploration and production assets and operations. This interactive environment will close the gaps in IT coverage and information availability between assets, data, models, plans, and decisions for activities such as hydrocarbon field development planning, production operations and optimization, and well and reservoir surveillance.

Setting Up the Foundation for the Digital Oil Field of the Future
In addition to enabling better productivity for today’s asset operations, First Mile Wireless provides the foundational connectivity for the digital oil field operations of the future. With digital oil field practices, operators will be able to improve planning and modelling cycle times and reduce the associated uncertainties. They will also be able to improve collaboration between development, drilling, and production teams.

Regardless of the maturity of an operator’s digital oil field program, a critical first step is to provide first mile connectivity, First Mile Wireless provides a secure, robust, resilient infrastructure, including strong identity management, physical and network security, and proactive operations management to ensure high availability of oilfield assets on a continuous basis.

Why First Mile Wireless?
Asset owners and operators face two primary issues in exploration and production: asset productivity and operating efficiency. Operators typically do not have visibility to sense the current state of the oil field and respond with actions to reduce well downtime or to increase the oil flow. First Mile Wireless networks provide the platform to enhance operational visibility as well address the scarcity of expertise at the point of activity, the oil and gas fields. By extending the office experience to the wellhead and bringing operational visibility back to central locations, companies can make the most efficient use of experts, enabling them to manage multiple well operations and communicate with staff in the
field in real time, and reducing operational costs.

In addition to providing visibility, First Mile Wireless networks can address the scarcity of expertise at the point of activity, the oil and gas fields. By extending the office experience to the wellhead and bringing operational visibility back to central locations, companies can make the most efficient use of experts, enabling them to manage multiple well operations and communicate with staff in the field in real time, and reducing operational costs. The First Mile Wireless solution also provides security. Most oil fields are not occupied locally and although personnel reside on the rig, security is still a challenge.

The first step to establishing a digital oilfield is to provide economic, integrated, high-speed connectivity with the First Mile Wireless solution as key enabler towards a complete digital oilfield of the future (DOFF). Deploying the DOFF with IP-based technologies in remote field sites enables central operations to:

• Sense the current production situation with more precision and respond more quickly to problems, reducing equipment failure and increasing volumes.
• Enhance recovery through better data and production planning.
• Optimize work processes, maintenance, and operations to reduce production downtime and lower production cost.
• Reduce capital costs with the use of a communications network and sensing applications to monitor and control remote machinery.
• Take advantage of the knowledge of experts across the company and use it more efficiently.

Why Cisco?
The Cisco First Mile Wireless solution improves extraction productivity and operating efficiency by cost-effectively providing secure and wireless connectivity to the First Mile of the oil value chain.

With its wireless technologies, Cisco offers a set of easily manageable end-to-end solutions, providing wireless client access, telemetry, voice, video, physical security, and location services in a cost effective way. The Cisco First Mile Wireless solution is designed to withstand the harsh and remote deployment conditions of the first mile and to provide appropriate technology solutions.

The Cisco First Mile Wireless solution is based on the Cisco Wireless Mesh Network providing wireless connectivity across the first mile. It is based on the Cisco Unified
Wireless Network architecture, including Cisco Aironet 1500 Series lightweight outdoor mesh access points that can be deployed with zero-touch configuration.

The Cisco Mobile Network can become part of the First Mile Wireless solution, providing a secure, wireless network in vehicles, which extends mission critical network applications to mobile staff. The Cisco 3200 Series Wireless and Mobile Router creates a mobile network, allowing a vehicle to maintain seamless connectivity whether it is stationary or in motion. Vehicles carrying staff in the field are transformed into mobile, IP-based offices, offering secure data, voice, and video communications from the mobile network to the central operations center.

To learn more about how First Mile Wireless solutions from Cisco can help you get better oil field performance, please contact us at: firstmilewireless@cisco.com

About Nicholas Graham:
Nicholas heads up the Oil & Gas practice for Cisco across the Emerging Markets area of Africa, Middle East and Russia CIS, based from Johannesburg, South Africa. He is responsible for the design, delivery and integration of “IP Network and Communication systems” into the specialized field of “Industrial Automation and Process Control.” This includes the major industries of Oil & Gas (up and down stream), Mining & Industrial Manufacturing. Nicholas qualified with a degree in Mechanical and Production engineering from John Moores University in the UK. This included specialization in subjects relevant to Industrial Automation and Hazardous Production Environment.
 

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