IOT AND RAISE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR OIL& GAS INDUSTRIES:

This general document is a set of summaries from different experts in the field, mainly for Oil &
Gas, and trying to apply it for you interest, which is related to the Custody Transfer of
Commodities (this case Oil) from Mexico & Canada. However, I decided to include a summary of
what a LACT unit does and its importance.

The BIG PICTURE:

1. The Important Role LACT Units Perform In The Petroleum Industry

Crude oil and petroleum products are one of the most valuable commodities on the market. As
such it is important that each and every drop be carefully and accurately measured when it is
being transferred from one party to another to ensure that everyone gets the compensation that
they deserve. In order to accomplish this important requirement the oil industry has developed a
sophisticated and invaluable tool: the LACT Unit.

1.1. What Are LACT Units?

“LACT” is an acronym for Lease Automatic Custody Transfer. “Custody transfer” refers to the
transportation of the crude oil or petroleum product from one entity’s possession or custody to
another’s possession. The “automatic” aspect refers to the automated nature of these transfers,
and the “lease” references the legal arrangement that is in place between the two entities.
Essentially a Lease Automatic Custody Transfer (LACT) Unit is a piece of equipment which
facilitates accurate measuring of the volume and quality of a petroleum product as it is transferred
by automated means from the custody of one legal entity to another.
 1.2. What Are Leases?

A common example of a lease in the context of the oil and gas industry is a legal document
between a landowner, who acts in the capacity of the lessor, and an oil company, who acts in the
capacity of the lessee. In this example the lease would serve as a legal document granting the oil
company exploration and drilling rights, typically in exchange for a cash bonus and a royalty
percentage on the gross value of the crude oil recovered.

LACT Units come into play because they allow the recovered oil to be carefully and accurately
measured so that the subsequent royalty payments as agreed upon in the lease can be correctly
paid out. Lease arrangements vary but a common standard royalty amount is one-eighth of the
value of the recovered oil. Thus LACT Units ensure that the oil company neither accidentally
overpays the landowner, nor underpays the landowner.

1.3. How Do LACT Units Work?

Different types of LACT units will operate slightly differently; however the general operation is as
follows. The LACT unit will be connected to an open feed line and stock tank. As the crude oil
level within the stock tank rises, it trips the level controller and turns on the LACT Unit, beginning
the transaction. When the crude level drops sufficiently within the stock tank it will then turn the
LACT Unit off again, ending the transaction.

LACT Units may be found in the field connected to a gathering pipeline, or to a main pipeline. At
some remote locations that are not really accessible by existing pipelines Truck or Rail LACT’s
may be used. Truck LACTs are LACT Units that are used to measure oil as it fills a tanker truck,
while Rail LACT’s are LACT Units that are used to measure oil as it fills a railroad tanker. These
trucks or trains may then transport the crude to a pipeline or refinery.

1.4. Factors Affecting Quality and Quantity of Crude Oil

The main purpose of LACT Units is to accurately measure both the quantity and quality of the
crude oil, which passes through them. An effective LACT Unit must have a high degree of
accuracy and precision and should give results that are repeatable, linear, and stable.
Additionally the LACT Unit should have a high degree of probability, which refers to the ability to
prove the meter’s performance and results and which affects the overall confidence level in the
machine.

The following factors play a significant role in affecting both the quality and quantity of crude oil.
As such it is crucial that the LACT Unit be able to accurately gauge and track these:

1.4.1.Temperature – The temperature of the crude oil affects its overall volume as the fluid
expands or contracts in response to temperature change. However, the way
temperature affects crude oil is not uniform across all crude oil because the crude oil
itself is not uniform. Instead different levels of API gravity will cause the temperature to
have a more or less significant effect on the crude oil.
1.4.2.API Gravity – API Gravity refers to American Petroleum Institute gravity. This is
measurement developed by the American Petroleum Institute, which describes how
heavy or light crude oil is in relation to water. If the API gravity is more than 10 then the
crude is light and will float on water. If the API gravity is less than 10 the crude is heavy
and will sink. API gravity determines how much the crude is worth because light crude
will produce a higher yield of gasoline or diesel when it is refined.
1.4.3.Basic Sediment & Water – Basic Sediment & Water, typically abbreviated BS&W refers
to the sediment, water content, and emulsion in the production stream. Naturally since
these are impurities, and not part of the actual merchantable oil, they must be carefully
measured and factored into the value accordingly. LACT units are typically equipped
with BS&W probes to collect the data and BS&W monitors to store and manager the
data.

Now that we have discussed what LACT Units are, how they work, and what factors affect their
measurement we hope that this information will empower readers and customers to make more
informed decisions about the equipment they need. Stay tuned for a follow up article in which
we’ll take a closer look at LACT Unit meters and parts, as well as why the LACT Unit is such a
good candidate for a modular process skid. Remember that STI Group offer high quality, modular
fabrication of LACT Units while meticulously meeting all industry quality and reliability standards.

1.5. Who manages the measurements:

Flow computers are the brains for all LACT systems; they handle or integrate all different
components from SKIG (valves, pumps, transmitters, Flow devices, etc.). However for oil
sea/ocean terminal operations another measurement comes into place; ATG or
automatic tank gauging systems, commonly used in Europe as custody transfer
systems. In USA they use a combination of LACT & ATG.

The communication for both approaches will be the same; Serial/IP communication by
means of an RTU mainly at remote sites, or PLC’s preferable within a control room
environment.

The figure below shows a general representation of a general configuration.

In the following picture, I try to give you an idea in how to visualize the communication
management: this example the Gas composition acts as a flow computer as well.
2. IoT architecture diagram which shows the building blocks of an IoT system and how they are
connected to collect, store and process data.

2.1. Gateways. Data goes from things to the cloud and vice versa through the gateways. A
gateway provides connectivity between things and the cloud part of the IoT solution
enables data preprocessing and filtering before moving it to the cloud (to reduce the
volume of data for detailed processing and storing) and transmits control commands
going from the cloud to things. Things then execute commands using their actuators.
2.2. Cloud gateway facilitates data compression and secure data transmission between field
gateways and cloud IoT servers. It also ensures compatibility with various protocols and
communicates with field gateways using different protocols depending on what protocol
is supported by gateways.
2.3. Streaming data processor ensures effective transition of input data to a data lake and
control applications. No data can be occasionally lost or corrupted.
3. IoT impact over Oil& Gas Industry

The suite of technologies that enables the Internet of Things promises to turn most any object into
a source of information about that object. This creates both a new way to differentiate products
and services and a new source of value that can be managed in its own right. Realizing the IoT’s
full potential motivates a framework that captures the series and sequence of activities by which
organizations creates value from information: the Information Value Loop.

For information to complete the loop and create value, it passes through the loop’s stages, each
enabled by specific technologies. An act is monitored by a sensor that creates information, that
information passes through a network so that it can be communicated, and standards—be they
technical, legal, regulatory, or social—allow that information to be aggregated across time and
space. Augmented intelligence is a generic term meant to capture all manner of analytical
support, collectively used to analyze information. The loop is completed via augmented
behavior technologies that either enable automated autonomous action or shape human
decisions in a manner leading to improved action.

Getting information around the Value Loop allows an organization to create value; how much
value is created is a function of the value drivers, which capture the characteristics of the
information that makes its way around the value loop. The drivers of information value can be
captured and sorted into the three categories: magnitude, risk, and time.

a. The overall & practical IoT Usage:

b. Upstream to down stream:

3.1. Upstream: Assimilating diverse data sets

 The fall in crude prices and the push to optimize operations come as E&P players face a
period of rising technical and operational complexity. Players are placing more equipment
on the seabed and developing systems that are able to operate at pressures of 20,000
pounds per square inch and withstand temperatures of up to 350°F particularly in deep-
water; increasing down hole intensity and above-ground activity in shale’s; moving to
hostile and remote locations where safety is key; and producing from old fields that have
significant maintenance needs.
 This increased complexity, when captured with the tens of thousands of new sensors
now deployed, has driven a data explosion in the E&P segment; by some estimates,
internal data generated by large integrated O&G companies now exceed 1.5 terabytes a
day. This data surge, however, has yet to generate the hoped-for economic benefits.
“The upstream industry loses $8 billion dollars per year in non-productive time (NPT) as
 engineers spend 70 percent of their time searching for and manipulating data,” according
to Teradata.
 On the one hand, the growing scale and frequency of hydrocarbon reservoirs data (or
physics-based data that follow established scientific principles) are challenging E&P
companies’ data-processing capabilities. On the other hand, the rising need to expand
the scope of data (inclusion of non-physics-based data independent of scientific
principles that add assumptions, conditions, uncertainties, and scenarios and cross-
disciplinary data that cut across exploration, development, and production) is restricted
by companies’ weak data-management capabilities.
 Companies are struggling to alleviate these bottlenecks, in large part due to a lack of
open standards that is limiting the flow of data at the aggregate stage and thus analysis.
For example, a company operating several thousand-gas wells in the Picante basin in
Colorado wanted to upgrade its supervisory control and data acquisition system to
manage growing complexity in operations. As the system was using a vendor-proprietary
data-communications format, the new vendor had to write a new driver from scratch to
communicate with the old system, costing $180,000 to the operator. In some cases, not
even this sort of additional investment is enough, and data flow comes to a standstill,
choking process flows as well. To eliminate such costs across the industry, users,
vendors, and industry councils (e.g., the Standards Leadership Council) could collaborate
to create open standards, enabling compatibility and interoperability.
 In addition, oilfield service (OFS) companies could play a larger role in standardizing and
integrating data. Their deep understanding of physics-based data and long history of
working with data-management and IT service providers’ position them well to play a de
facto standardizing role in the industry’s value loop. Building on this expertise might allow
OFS companies to create a new revenue stream and help them fend off advances from
IT service providers that are beginning to vertically integrate and market their developed
OFS capabilities directly to E&P companies.
 Delivering insights from aggregated data may have no value if those insights get to
decision makers late or if the data overload a company’s infrastructure. The data
explosion—coupled with bandwidth challenges—increasingly calls for a complementary,
localized data-processing infrastructure that pre-processes information closer to where it
is generated and transmits only selective data to the cloud. While moving network
intelligence closer to the source has broader uses, it is well suited for remote locations
that generate terabytes of data and demand predictable latency.
 No matter what data-processing architecture a company erects, it must analyze that data
if it is to optimize existing operations and, more importantly, to identify new areas of
performance improvement. For E&P companies, the analysis of standardized data will
likely most affect production, followed by development and exploration. By some
projections, IoT applications could reduce production and lifting costs by more than $500
million of a large O&G integrated company with annual production of 270 million barrels.
For example:
  Production: The opportunity to automate thousands of wells spread across
regions (a large company handles more than 50,000 wells) and monitor multiple
pieces of equipment per well (a single pump failure can cost $100,000 to $300,000
a day in lost production) makes production the biggest potential O&G beneficiary
of IoT applications.
 Development: Smart sensors, machine-to-machine connections, and big data
analytics can increase active rig time, while a connected supply chain dependent
on networked mobility and big data can reduce cost inflation and delays in new
projects.
 Exploration: Advancements in seismic data acquisition (4D, micro-seismic) and
computing power have already improved E&P companies’ understanding of
subsurface geology by providing more and better data about what lies
beneath. However, still greater opportunity lies in faster processing of existing
seismic data and transforming them into surface models.

3.2. Midstream: Pipelines of Information

 Since the start of the US shale boom, pipeline companies have seen their business shift
from a simple business model—transporting limited grades of liquids and natural gas
between fixed supply and demand centers—to a complex and more dynamic model of
transporting variable volumes and grades of products from multiple locations to new end
users and markets.
 This rising business complexity—combined with aging pipeline networks, legacy and
manual monitoring and control devices, and the ongoing challenge of service
differentiation—presents both challenges and opportunities for midstream companies.
With annual losses of approximately $10 billion due to fuel leaks and thefts in the United
States alone, companies face considerable upside in improving pipeline safety and
reliability.
 Installing more operational hardware and software with limited pre-defined tags (e.g.,
pressure, temperature, volume, vibration) and following rules-based approaches (e.g.,
statistical, historical) would likely do little to reduce risks or improve a network’s reliability.
What may be needed is a shift toward data-enabled infrastructure—in other words,
getting started on the Information Value Loop by investing in sensors that create new
data. “Midstream energy companies lag far behind what other industries invest in
information technology,” according to Oil and Gas Monitor.
 Enbridge, TransCanada, and PG&E, for example, are relieving this bottleneck
by creating data about potential pipeline breaches from advanced sensors installed inside
or outside the pipeline. TransCanada and Enbridge are testing four technologies that
essentially see, feel, smell, and hear various aspects of their oil pipelines: vapor-sensing
tubes that “see” bitumen spilled by shooting air down a tube; a fiber-optic distributed
temperature sensing system that “feels” fluctuations in temperature caused by bitumen
leaking into ambient soil; hydrocarbon sensing cables that send electric signals to “smell”
 hydrocarbons; and a fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing system that “hears” sound
variations and can indicate a pipeline leak.
 Enhancing pipeline safety is in all players’ interest, since a spill by any single operator
can lead to higher costs and tighter regulations for the entire industry. As a result,
companies are joining forces in developing a data-enabled monitoring infrastructure.
Thus, the industry-wide benefit of this collaboration outweighs any single company’s
competitive or commercial advantage. Ensuring safety and minimizing risks are table
stakes—to truly differentiate itself in the midstream segment, a company often must go
further.
 In fact, a midstream company would likely accrue a larger competitive and commercial
advantage if it analyzes product and flow data more comprehensively all along its
network— similar to the way US electric companies are analyzing energy data using
smart devices and meters. According to some estimates, every 150,000 miles of pipeline
generates 10 terabytes of data, an amount of data equal to the entire printed collection of
the Library of Congress.
 The “midstream majors” are well positioned to create insights from this new data of
volumes because of their diverse portfolio and integrated network. A big midstream
company can leverage the data across its pipelines, helping shippers find the best paths
to market and charging them differently for having route optionality in contracts.
Forecasting algorithms on historic volumes transported can reveal ways in which a
midstream major might use pricing incentives that induce producers and end users to
smooth volumes. Similarly, a real-time analysis of changing volumes across its network of
shale plays can alert the company to new price differentials.
 The pipeline data, when combined with growing data from an expanding network of
export facilities, markets, marine terminals, and product grades in a timely manner, can
give rise to a data-equipped midstream enterprise. “Forward-thinking, innovative
midstream organizations can take advantage of the unprecedented volume of new types
of data. Emerging types of data, such as machine and sensor data, geolocation data,
weather data, and log data become valuable at high volumes, especially when correlated
against other data sets,” according to Hortonworks.

3.3. Downstream: From inside out to outside in Oil&Gas Operations

 Crude oil refining is a mature business with few recent innovations in processing
technology. This fact, and the highly commoditized nature of petroleum products, makes
refining the most commercially challenging part of the energy value chain. Consequently,
refiners worldwide have traditionally focused on running refineries as efficiently as
possible and seeking to increase the yield of higher-value products.
 Avoiding shutdowns is a critical part of increasing refinery output. Between 2009 and
2013, there were more than 2,200 unscheduled refinery shutdowns in the United States
alone, an average of 1.3 incidents per day. These shutdowns cost global process
industries 5 percent of their total production, equivalent to $20 billion per year. Ineffective
 maintenance practices also result in unscheduled downtime that costs global refiners on
average an additional $60 billion per year in operating costs.
 Typically, refiners schedule maintenance turnarounds for the entire refinery or for
individual units on a pre-set schedule to allow coordination of inspection and repair
activities and to plan for alternative product-supply arrangements. For individual
components, refiners routinely pull devices into the workshop for inspection and overhaul,
without much information about a particular device’s expected condition, perhaps wasting
efforts on devices that need not be repaired. But now non-intrusive smart devices
(sensors), advanced wireless mesh networks (network), open communication protocols
(standards), and integrated device and asset-management analytics (augmented
intelligence) are driving a shift away from time-based preventive planning to condition-
based predictive maintenance strategies.
 This seems like a fairly straightforward example of deploying sensors to create new data
and generate value. Despite many similar examples, why have so few refiners thus far
failed to fully capitalize on these sorts of IoT-enabled improvements? In many instances,
data capture and analytics, or the flow of information, mostly happens at an asset level
or, to some extent, at an overall plant level. What has been less common is analysis of
data across the system (including pre- and post- links in logistics and distribution) and,
moreover, across the ecosystem (adding external variables such as consumer profile and
behavior, etc.).
 Optimizing the supply chain by streamlining the planning and scheduling process is one
aspect where IT service providers’ automated software and hardware solutions have
already made significant inroads. Using the visibility into the fully hydrocarbon supply
chain as a system for enhancing refining operations and flexibility is another aspect—
integrated information can help create and capture new value for refiners. This, in
particular, may make sense for US refiners, which are fast changing their crude sourcing
strategy from mostly buying medium and heavy crude under long-term contracts
(following a typical supply-chain process) to buying a greater range of light, medium, and
heavy crude blends in the spot market (requiring greater supply-chain dynamism to reap
benefits).

3.4. Investing in IoT applications is just one aspect.

Companies need a well-built IIoT platform in order to help them convert massive amounts of data
into useful information. A big benefit for the Oil & Gas companies is the ability of their pump off
controllers that speak legacy protocols to participate in the Internet-of-Things and enjoy the
benefits of modern web services.

3.4.1.Improved Operational Efficiency: According to Rig zone, the oil and gas industry will be
facing losses in the next couple of years as the Baby Boomer-aged workers begin to retire
and there are less people with industry expertise to assume the vacant roles. Big data
analysis and remote visibility will help companies better manage their assets and use their
findings to optimize production. Leveraging the capabilities of IIoT can reduce
 troubleshooting time from days to minutes, which leaves more time to spend on other
operational aspects of the business.
3.4.2.Revenue: With lower oil prices being the new normal, profit margins have tightened and oil
and gas companies must take this opportunity to invest in innovative technologies rather
than conduct knee-jerk cost cutting. The financial gains of cost reduction and saved time
will be invaluable as the industry becomes even more competitive.

3.5. IoT in Oil and Gas: Steps to Monitor Operations

In the oil and gas industry, the major satisfaction lies not in managing the equipment and devices
or customer relationships, but rather adding value to these. To find value in oil and gas industry,
an integrated system plays a major role. Here are eight steps that tell how Industrial IoT
implementation in the oil and gas industry works:

1. Sensors: Tracking the live location of a vehicle was always a key challenge in the oil and gas
industry. Sensors read the pertinent data, like flow rate, temperature, pressure, and, then,
gateways at the site connect these sensors to wireless networks. Once they get connected to
the wireless networks, they connect to smartphones and tablets so that the data can be read
and analyzed by the field engineers. From the recent studies, it has been known that 40 percent
of all the data by 2020 will come from the connected sensors. Biz4Intellia, an end-to-end
comprehensive Industrial IIoT solution has made the best and optimized use of sensors and
controllers. These network of devices gather the real-time data to analyze and monitor the
present status of the plant. According to few research and reports, it was found that out of all
the devices, sensors were the major ones, which helped in finding the major problems in valve,
pipeline and compressor before the situation become catastrophic.
2. Pipeline Management: As we come from upstream to downstream, higher network integrity is
found. According to the recent research, it was known that an approximate of $10 billion of loss
was there due to leakage of fuel, and, thus, it led to the development of the Pipeline
management. A midstream company sends its data across these pipelines and helps the
engineers find the optimized route. Biz4Intellia, an end-to-end Industrial IoT solution, brushed the
characteristics of oil and gas pipeline management. Factors like downtime got reduced, and
regular maintenance got scheduled with the help of the pipeline at the midstream. Aspects like
temperature, flow, and pressure are monitored by the sensors and are, then, inspected by end-to-
end pipelines.

3. System Integrated Center: This step integrates the IoT platforms with core business processes.
The system at midstream is relatively more mature in monitoring the risks and optimizing the
operations as the systems are highly automated and process controlled. The system quickly
integrates the data received from all other devices and sends alerts for taking immediate actions.
It not only does this, but the different organizations are adopting a different system control center,
which can capture the data relating to time, temperature, and pressure. Beyond the technical
challenges that are faced in the integration of all the devices, developing such a system requires
deep insight.

4. Real-Time Analysis: Whenever there is a large amount of complex data, predictive analysis
becomes a major concern. Predictive analysis keeps the track of the real-time data and lets you
know even about the minute changes in the behavior of the equipment. Whenever a failure
occurs, alerts are sent to the engineer and changes are made.

5. Tablets and Smart Wearable’s: With IIoT, the systems are connected to one network and
programmed to relay information back to a device, such as a smartphone or a tablet that is
connected to the same network. Through these IoT tools, oil and gas workers can have access to
information gathered, which helps them to understand how the system is performing. They can
also monitor the systems and analyze key information from any location.

6. 3-D Printers: Advanced products and smooth running of the processes are all possible by the
beauty of the 3-D printing in the oil and gas industry. 3-D printing is an industrial IoT solution for
oil and gas that has made the representation of the assets more cost-effective and the processes
faster. When the data gets scanned from respective devices, then, one can know whether the
replacement part can fit the existing part, and the documentation tells us about improving the
design of a product and reproducing the tooling components. A concept of reverse engineering is
used in the oil and gas industry that measures the shape and size of every tool.

7. Loading and Unloading: The measurement of the load on the truck has been a problem and a
critical factor while utilizing the assets in the transportation and logistics business. According to
the recent US regulations in fleet management, a cap has been put on the load of the truck so
you cannot exceed the limit. And, you would not want to load the truck lesser than the limit,
because you don’t want to lose the potential profit. With IoT in the oil and gas industry, you can
monitor the real-time loading /unloading with smart truck/trailer weighing solutions.

8. Fleet Management: The off-road sensors and the one fitted inside the fleet helps in tracking the
real-time location and health of the vehicle. The advanced and intelligent fleet system has
increased the overall efficiency and reduced traffic incidents. Sensors help to monitor the data
from multiple locations and track the equipment so that risks can be reduced. With the present
technology of IoT in oil and gas, tracking the real-time location and health of the vehicle has
become an easy game. As in the present era, everything is independent of the human inputs; the
IoT in the oil and gas industry is also independent of the human manpower.

3.6. How IIoT Will Revolutionize the Oil and Gas Industry

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is the future of the oil and gas industry. As the Internet of
Things’ (IoT) network of devices, sensors and software brings about change in consumers’ daily
lives, this particular industry is lagging behind. Oil and gas have been facing challenges, largely
attributed to the antiquated and inefficient approach that many companies take to maintain assets
and collect data. Below are five different ways IIoT will revolutionize the oil and gas industry:

1. Improved Operational Efficiency: According to Rigzone, the oil and gas industry will be
facing losses in the next couple of years as the Baby Boomer-aged workers begin to retire and
there are less people with industry expertise to assume the vacant roles. Big data analysis and
remote visibility will help companies better manage their assets and use their findings to optimize
production. Leveraging the capabilities of IIoT can reduce troubleshooting time from days to
minutes, which leaves more time to spend on other operational aspects of the business.

2. Revenue: The industry has a major impact on the global GDP: According to Oxford
Economics, industry-wide adoption of IIoT could increase the global GDP by as much as 0.8
percent, or $816 billion in the next decade. With lower oil prices being the new normal, profit
margins have tightened and oil and gas companies must take this opportunity to invest in
innovative technologies rather than conduct knee-jerk cost cutting. The financial gains of cost
reduction and saved time will be invaluable as the industry becomes even more competitive.

3. Real-Time Data; Big data is not new to the oil and gas industry: Data is crucial for the success
of this industry, in particular. Efficiency and accuracy is highly valued in the oil and gas industry
almost more than any other industry. Small improvements in efficiency can make a notable
economic difference. Profit in the oil and gas industry is dependent on prompt and accurate
production data. With IIoT integration, the oil production can be captured in real-time through
embedded sensors and the right automation of data communications systems, enables
companies to gather information from assets anywhere and make informed decisions. For
example, companies can adapt their drilling strategies after comparing real-time down-hole
drilling data with data from production of nearby wells. This level of visibility can help oil and gas
companies improve production by 6% to 8%. Additionally, the shift to data generation via the
cloud allows for expansion of the amount of possible transactions that can occur all the way down
the supply chain.

4. Decreased Safety Risk: Safety is perhaps the largest industry concern, both internally and
externally. IIoT can lessen risk taken by identifying potential issues before they become actual
problems or safety hazards. Remote troubleshooting means more constant and efficient
regulation of oil rigs. Fully leveraged IIoT integration also means less travel and potentially
dangerous work for personnel.

5. Environmental Footprint: From increased efficiency to lessened safety risk and reduced travel,
IIoT adoption can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the oil and gas industry. Using
less energy, avoiding oil spills and other accidents, and emitting less carbon are significant
enough for oil and gas to pay attention to IIoT. IIoT also allows for clearer monitoring of energy
and resource usage. The integration of connected devices in oil and gas will touch nearly every
leg of the oil and gas supply chain from operations to customer engagement. It’s an opportunity
for rapid change in a legacy industry – and a chance for oil and gas to compete in a
commoditized world.

4. Conclusions:
4.1. Completing the loop: By understanding and facing the new normal of lower oil prices,
the O&G industry is beginning to see the IoT’s importance to future success. But it’s not
as simple as adding more sensors: Creating and capturing value from IoT applications
requires clearly identifying primary business objectives before implementing IoT
technology, ascertaining new sources of information, and clearing bottlenecks that limit
the flow of information (see table 1).

 Upstream players focused on optimization can gain new operational insights

by standardizing the aggregated physics and non-physics data and running integrated
analytics across the functions (exploration, development, and production).
 Midstream players targeting higher network integrity and new commercial opportunities
can benefit by investing in sensors that touch every aspect of their facilities and analyzing
volume data more comprehensively all along their network.
 Downstream players operating at an ecosystem level can create new value by expanding
their visibility into the complete hydrocarbon supply chain to enhance core refining
 economics and targeting new digital consumers through new forms of connected
marketing.

4.2. IoT for Oil & Gas will be used for:

4.2.1. Sensor Configuration: The sensor configuration task requires the ability to interface with
different devices (IoT or non IoT).
4.2.2. Content Collection: This task involves the development of wrappers that will allow fetching
of data from the one data store to another one.
4.2.3. Data Discovery: Once data is pushed to the cloud, the data becomes.
4.2.4. Integrated Platform Deployment: Being able to integrate among different web based or
services in the Cloud or WEB.
4.3. Project concern: In your project, you might be encountering a vast variety of LACT
Systems & probably, either within a control room environment with a SCADA/PLC or
remote systems by means of an RTU.

4.3.1.System IoT Architecture: you need to develop or purchase or join venture with a
company such as, WAVIOT and similar, to get hands on netIOT interfaces, and
netIOT Edges, so they can be plugged in with RTU’s or PLC’s or Flow Computers
directly on the LACT SKID. Up to now, there are not direct IoT Sensors for Custody
Transfer Solutions, and probably if you win the project, you may transform and
make smarter The LACT business.
For any case, the communications challenge will be to develop an adaptor or connector for every
case; the mostly use MODBUS/RTU/ASCII, and you should build a IoT/RTU device into it.