FEATURE
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DIGITALISATION FOR GAS FIELDS BY MARIA GARCIA ALVAREZ
A
drop in demand due to COVID-19 lockdown measures has struck natural gas markets which are already suffering from low commodity prices. Even though it is expected demand will return once lockdown restricted are eased, the impact on the global economy may result in continued low gas prices. As a result, gas companies need, more than ever, to improve their production systems and reduce costs. Digitalisation is a powerful tool for mitigating inefficiencies related to Coal Seam Gas (CSG) production environments and field locations. Being dependent on human labour for data collection, maintenance and operations, the
48
SUBMARINE TELECOMS MAGAZINE
Oil and Gas industry can obtain immediate benefit from digitalisation through the use of wireless sensors, video monitoring and broadband wireless connections. These are some of the technologies enabling use cases such as remote monitoring and connected workers. Although digitalisation is not new in the Gas industry, the analysis of upstream production processes reveals areas for improvement in daily maintenance and operation. The key benefits being:
REDUCTION OF KILOMETRES DRIVEN
On a daily basis, lone workers can drive hundreds of