Advances in mobile technology for the oil and gas industry

Abstract

Australia's ageing production facilities (refining, LNG WA, oil and gas, and infrastructure) require turnarounds of an unprecedented scale. For oil and gas producers to focus on reducing costs while maintaining safe-production practices is a significant challenge. This is represented by the high cost of labour, materials and increasing regulatory compliance, including NOPSEMA and AS/NZS 60079.17 for EX Electrical Integrity in Hazardous Areas. Labour-intensive preparation work is led by Static (Pipe and Pressure vessel inspections) and ongoing EX maintenance inspections campaigns covering tens of thousands of EX FLOCs per year for each LNG train. Remediation work is supported by integrated Safe System of Work (iSSoW) for risk assessment and permit to work. Mobile applications in hazardous areas can reduce the effort required for many field-based processes, including EX inspections and iSSoW; however, they must also overcome the challenges of limited wireless communications in production facilities and the aged design of EX Zone 1 rated Mobile Devices. The application of Lean Six Sigma and process analysis to identify waste in the supporting processes (electrical equipment in hazardous areas [EEHA] and iSSoW) and the introduction of improved mobile system architecture provide new thinking for mobile technology in oil and gas production. This study identifies key areas of waste and analyses the results of extended mobility trials in onshore and offshore production environments in both new and aged facilities. This extended abstract reviews the results of a 2012 study that shows how appropriate mobile technology can reduce process time by more than 50%. This study's results also identify further areas for refinement and improvement.