Ingenu > Case Studies > Intelligence for Digital Oilfield (WellAware)

Intelligence for Digital Oilfield (WellAware)

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - Low-Power Wide-Area Network
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms

Applicable Industries

Oil & Gas

Applicable Functions

Process Manufacturing

Use Cases

Process Control & Optimization

The Customer

WellAware

About The Customer

WellAware is a data company that helps exploration and production, midstream and chemical service companies reduce operating expenses, minimize downtime and ensure safety and regulatory compliance with reliable data collection, exceptionbased monitoring a

The Challenge

WellAware was exploring the market for a reliable solution for collecting data from its customers’ remote well locations. According to WellAware CEO, Matt Harrison, the company’s customers have a tremendous need to tap into the intelligence provided by the digital oilfield. In selecting a provider for its network, WellAware compared the features of an array of communication technologies. Cellular provided adequate coverage, but at the rate of $25-$50 per month per device, the cost was extremely high. Satellite was even more expensive, in excess of $100 per month per device. As a typical oilfield consists of more than 1,000 wells, implementation of these technologies would quickly become cost-prohibitive. Additionally, cellular and satellite technologies were only able to deliver between 85-95 percent data availability and were not able to transmit data at sub-minute frequencies. This was not sufficient to meet the reliability expectations of WellAware’s customers.

The Solution

Ultimately, WellAware looked to Ingenu to provide a network solution that would provide wide and deep coverage and superior reliability and security at a price that would be affordable for its users.

In evaluating Ingenu’s RPMA (Random Phase Multiple Access) technology, WellAware determined that Ingenu’s innovative network was ideally suited for its digital oilfield requirements. Purpose built from the ground up, RPMA delivered the best coverage, providing over 99.9 percent data availability and supporting tens of thousands of devices per access point. Additionally, even at low signal strength, the network was able to reliably and accurately deliver oilfield data where other networks had failed. All of this translated to an extremely wide coverage area per access point. And, because the network was able to connect with less infrastructure, capital and operating costs were significantly lower.

Operational Impact

[Data Management - Data Security]
With device and network authentication, encryption and other measures, RPMA insured that WellAware’s oilfield data would be transmitted securely.

Quantitative Benefit

WellAware oilfield network has been in operation for two years and is pre-built over several key shale plays and covers over 55,000 square miles of oilfields including the Eagle Ford, Permian, Granite Wash and Bakken. The network supports over 5,000 radios per access point and is managed and maintained for oil and gas operators by WellAware.