New Safety Standards Needed for Field Automation

By Phillip DeBauche, Energy Workforce & Technology Council

Global oil and gas demand is predicted to increase by more than one third by 2025.

With this surge in energy demand, the oil and gas industry is being challenged to improve production efficiencies and maintain a growth trajectory in its crude oil and natural gas resources. However, the safety of the men and women in the oilfield workforce must be paramount to any other aspect of a planned job.

Increasingly, producers and operators are turning to intelligent automation technology to increase production in a cost-effective manner.

Most of the current dialogue around this innovation and automation bubble in the oilfield centers around the “what” and the “how” – the specific technology available to be deployed and the task it is designed to perform. Companies are keying in on “what” parts of the traditional job are being changed and outdated, and “how” emerging technologies such as advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine-learning algorithms and remote monitoring are driving this shift in the energy sector.

While the “what” and “how” may dominate the conversation, companies should not overlook the most critical element in the digital revolution — the “who”.

In every case out of a hundred, process automation and optimization must be secondary to oilfield safety. In order to keep safety first, the oilfield workforce will need to integrate, manage and work alongside these new tools for a safe, successful operation. It is important not to forget that in the age of technological transformation, the “who” is just as critical as the “how.”

CHANGING LANDSCAPE & STANDARDS

As with any rollout of new industry innovations, the traditional safety requirements and certification standards that exist in the field may not be in line with the newly created safety requirements. Each step in oilfield production is intrinsically linked, so that when one variable is changed (replacement of a frac feeder, updating an existing blender, decreasing the number of trucks on the road), the entire system needs to be re-evaluated from a worker safety point-of-view.

There may be unforeseen complications that arise with the implementation of new tools/procedures on a job site. Every chain in the link needs to be evaluated from a safety perspective and planned for accordingly. This can be accomplished by engaging the entire management team in plan analysis to ensure safety management is included in the complete business management process and not just an add-on after the fact.

The deployment of system-wide automation procedures and technologies is beginning to allow companies to do more work with less required handson deck. This “less is more” approach allows companies to determine what is necessary on site, often driven by cost efficiencies.

System automations are changing the requirements of some jobs that have traditionally needed six pairs of hands to only two. A parade’s worth of vehicles and field instruments are being replaced with smaller, sleeker apparatuses that can accomplish the same goals more efficiently and with a fraction of the original carbon footprint. The key consideration that needs to be made with the changing number of required workers on site is safety qualifications are becoming more complex and demanding. Companies that are engaged in these operations need to be cognizant of safety gaps that will be created with this sector-wide replacement of the old with the new and properly develop their safety standards to cover all of the gaps for on-site workers.

To keep pace with the ever-changing industry dynamics, comprehensive training to the task at hand is essential to success. A company’s safety standards need to be deeply rooted in a thorough understanding of how new technologies work and where elements of safe working environments are impacted before jobs are assigned and people are deployed on site.

Any oilfield worker associated with a new tool or process needs to be trained on its complete functionality in order to ensure job safety. It is also important to remember that automation will impact a wide range of routine tasks in the oil and gas industry, both in the field and in support functions. Overlooking the impact of automation on supporting roles like finance, accounting and human resources can lead to unforeseen complications. It is essential for companies to acknowledge the impacts of automation across the entire sector and continue to develop proper safety procedures that lead to harmony between each part of the process.

Intelligent automation is not simply the deployment of digital tools; it represents a completely new way of doing business that allows companies to constantly discover, learn, change, and expand as they strive to meet growth objectives. Now, it is more important than ever to integrate worker safety as a fundamental part of the oilfield revolution.

Implementing machine learning is not new or unique to the oilfield. Every industry from agriculture to textiles is tinkering with new technologies that can achieve the holy grail of business objectives: driving up production while driving down costs.

With the steady rollout of new smart-technology and intelligent automation, the energy sector has already proven that it can work towards a smarter future. The only way to make that future stick is with comprehensive and sustainable safety standards that continue to evolve alongside the constantly changing landscape of technology implementation.

Phillip DeBauche is the Council’s Director of Environmental and Technical.