Huawei, whose technology helps oil and gas companies to protect their oil pipelines against sabotage, illegal tapping and attacks, insists that technology and networking infrastructure behind the region’s lucrative oil and gas industry needs to be reliable, robust and secure. Offering end-to-end ICT solutions specifically tailored to the business requirements of the oil and gas sector, from wireless technology, Emergency Command Centre (ECC) solutions, CCTV solutions to tele-presence and more, Huawei has a number of flagship customers across the region, including those in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as well as global projects in Mexico, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and China.
Pan En, General Manager, Huawei Technologies, Kuwait commented: “The Digital Oilfield and Intelligent Pipeline are concepts that have emerged in recent years to describe the harnessing of ICT infrastructure so oil companies can better manage and visualise data, establish a communications infrastructure that links their upstream, midstream and downstream activities, and build pipelines that can detect and isolate faults or attacks. Although these concepts are not new, the deluge of digital data facing oil companies is faced with an even more hostile environment they operate in than ever before.
“Not only is exploration becoming more competitive, with theft of sensitive data a constant threat, but oil projects usually take place in hazardous terrains and areas of the world that sometimes experience political instability. On top of all this, the digital environment places extra demands on oil companies to secure their data, as recent cyber threats have shown. Oil companies need secure communications lines that can cope with the large volumes of data travelling from offshore to onshore sites, such as drilling and oil well exploration data. They also need wireless technology that can intelligently and automatically capture key performance refinery and pipeline data without the need for engineers to spend time in-field recording data manually, with the attendant risks of human error.”
Huawei’s ECC solutions allow oil and gas companies to monitor their oil delivery fleets and ensure their cargo is safe. An important component of Huawei’s ECC solutions is CCTV systems, which ensure workforce safety and the protection of assets by preventing intrusions, terrorism, thefts and data leakage. With energy sector workers often sent offshore for long periods of time, energy companies are increasingly seeing a compelling case for investing in tele-presence and video conference facilities.
Energy companies also need to comply with Zone 1 certification and withstand external exposure to extreme levels. From having the capacity to tolerate dust, fire, water and poisonous gases, to being able to resist heat in tough desert conditions and operate even where explosions may have happened, technology is replacing the role of human site inspectors who were previously risking their health and lives working in hazardous areas. Huawei believes that rather than buying solutions off the shelf, oil and gas companies need to look at customising their solutions based on specific business requirements, and that the network and ICT infrastructure of an energy company needs to respond to the sensitivity of its business and priorities.
