HP E-Zine: The Energy Edition
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Transcript of HP E-Zine: The Energy Edition
1.Oil & Gas Edition
Industry Edge Energy: Oil & Gas Edition
Feature stories
Five trends shaping the future of oil and gas
Three critical enablers supporting the industry’s future
Master big data to optimize the oil and gas lifecycle
HP Enterprise Services • Issue 008 • Fall 2012
The route to better, faster oil and gas is paved with newfound efficienciesToday’s world runs on oil and gas. Global demand continues to be strong and in many sectors increasing. With many existing reservoirs producing less, oil and gas companies are relying on technology to help find new reserves and increase production to meet those needs. Fortunately, a number of innovative developments are putting upstream and downstream goals within the industry’s reach.
To manage exploration, development, and production activities, oil and gas firms now use sensor technology, machine-to-machine capabilities, and real-time decision-making. When seamlessly integrated across multiple systems, these technologies can produce big benefits.
However, these benefits depend on a few critical enablers: information management
and analytics, security, mobility, and cloud-based solutions. While these capabilities can lead to big results, they must be monitored, controlled, and implemented by a company who knows this technology. The world of oil and gas – like many other industries – is nonstop. A disruption in any one of the areas can have profound and costly effects on exploration success, production output, and, ultimately, the bottom line.
To learn more about how technology is helping the industry overcome the challenges of remote and difficult-to-access resources, find meaning in the avalanche of data, and manage the layers of risk inherent in the extraction process, spend some time drilling down into the pages that follow.
4 Five trends shaping the
future of oil and gas
10 Exploit sensor data for
real-time decision-making
14 Three critical enablers supporting
the industry’s future
18 Master big data to optimize
the oil and gas lifecycle
22 Pump up efficiency with mobility
26 Once more unto the breach:
Comprehensive security in
the digital age
30 Considering the cloud?
34 Why HP?
5.Oil & Gas Edition
Five trends shaping the future of oil and gas
With the rise in demand, costs, and safety pressures, and the complexity that comes with exploration and production in challenging environments, the modern oil and gas industry faces major hurdles to success. The future of the industry depends on finding ways to use the
latest technological advances to produce more, at lower costs, while optimizing operations. From intelligent oilfields to enterprise security concerns to supply that is optimized for the marketplace, a number of industry-specific trends are emerging.
6. Oil & Gas Edition
Advance business models with the intelligent oilfield Trend #1
Energy firms are always searching for more
cost-effective ways to discover and drill for oil
and gas. New technologies, such as remote
sensors and mobility solutions, play a key role in
shortening exploration and development time by
enabling faster, better decision-making.
The use of sensors and mobility solutions
combine to form what the industry calls the
intelligent oilfield. Intelligence comes from
the ability to collect massive amounts of data
and then turn them into actionable insight. For
instance, drilling activities can be monitored
and managed in real time, thereby reducing
inefficiencies and ensuring safety while drilling.
Leveraging current data and high-powered
analytical tools with results communicated to a
mobile workforce, oil and gas engineers can use
this information to support a better business
model – one that has evolved over the years
from reactive to proactive in order to become
more predictive and preventative.
Next-generation technologies optimize operations and increase yieldsTrend #2
In the energy industry, even minor improvements
can be game changers. Oil and gas experts
recognize that unlocking an additional one
percent of the oil reserves currently trapped in
rock could result in an expansion of conventional
oil reserves by 88 billion barrels, which is enough
to replace three years of current production
and have a major impact on world production1.
This helps to explain why energy companies are
focusing on techniques to increase recovery rates
on existing fields, such as mining high fidelity
seismic data from field sensors to determine how
to operate assets at higher capacity rates without
overtaxing the equipment.
Experts are exploring other ways to increase
efficiency and optimize operations. For example,
they are experimenting with integrating and
mobilizing real-time operating and asset data.
This would enable the implementation of
condition-based maintenance and reliability
programs that increase output, decrease
downtime, and reduce costs. One estimate
highlights that a five percent reduction in
1 Shell Dialogues, “Using innovation to help meet the energy demand: solutions to extract more from existing fields,” Shell Netherlands, Oct. 5, 2011.
7.Oil & Gas Edition
downtime would equate to nearly $88 billion
in annual savings. Other improvements to
optimize operations include increasing the level
of remote management and automation, with
autonomous operations maintaining production
and support – regardless of potential
communications and environmental challenges.
Modern security requires an enterprise-wide approachTrend #3
In the recent past, oilfield security depended
on legacy infrastructure, which was limited
by a siloed approach to risk mitigation, global
security, and cost reduction. Today, the need for
increased collaboration between geographically
dispersed organizations as well as third parties
and joint venture partners underscores the
importance of adopting a holistic enterprise
view of security. Identity management, in
particular, is crucial to protecting both the
infrastructure and intellectual property, and the
security challenge becomes even more complex
in light of the need to work with third parties to
monitor and control access to sensitive data.
As more intelligent oilfields – also known as
digital oilfields – are deployed, the need to
monitor and manage critical assets such as
SCADA systems using remote technologies
increases. It challenges oil and gas companies
to reduce the vulnerability of those assets
against electronic intrusion, misuse, and theft.
In addition, because many of these intelligent
oilfields rely on unmanned operations, there’s
an increased need to protect the business
and supply from threats to both physical and
cybersecurity.
Regulatory and environmental compliance are criticalTrend #4
The number and complexity of regulations
governing the oil and gas industry have
gradually increased at the local and country
levels. While traditional regulatory areas – like
health and safety monitoring – will always be
an area of focus within the industry, there’s also
new public pressure on companies to increase
environmental stewardship. Companies that
are slow or neglectful in addressing the public’s
concerns risk damage to their reputation and
incurring additional litigation expenses.
8. Oil & Gas Edition
Health and safety as well as environmental
regulations focus on incident avoidance,
mitigation, correction, and documentation.
New information management and analytics
solutions are supporting compliance on both
fronts. It is now possible to link unstructured
documentation or regional regulation with
structured operational data to prove or
disprove perceptions surrounding how
an incident was managed.
Analytics optimizes supply and demandTrend #5The oil and gas market has been widely affected
by demand fluctuations and political instability.
To combat the lack of predictability in demand
and production, the industry is focusing
on balancing production costs with current
market pricing to maintain adequate margins.
Additionally, companies are looking to maintain
adequate reserves to hedge against challenges
with long-term production.
The technologies that support this kind of
portfolio optimization center on advanced
analytics to balance demand requirements,
supply requirements, and pricing (either
through production or trading). These analyses
require sophisticated financial calculations that
incorporate pricing trends, production histories,
and reservoir depletion data. With improved
forecasts, oil and gas companies can optimize
production to meet demand and set prices to
drive profitability and improve outcomes for
years to come.
9.Oil & Gas Edition
The price of not changingUnfortunately, the costs associated with
maintaining current cost structure, processes,
and procedures are as formidable as the need
to effect industry change. As production from
unconventional sources increases, models
to support them must change to reflect the
unique management needs of each geology.
Without a flexible business model, the industry
will encounter severely limited resources,
especially as skilled professionals retire. This
makes it more difficult to free up human and
financial resources to realize the competitive
advantage of innovation and bring new
products and services to market quickly.
Companies that are still shackled with an
inflexible legacy infrastructure will struggle
to support the new demands being placed on
them, and will be subsequently slower to adapt
to changing market and customer demands.
Organizational IT systems will continue to
function in silos, preventing the 360-degree
view of the enterprise required to make fast,
informed decisions.
Experience better outcomes and a brighter future with HPA true partner to the oil and gas industry, HP
helps companies capitalize on the power of
structured and unstructured data to drive
strong business performance and effective
decision-making. Security services and
solutions protect the entire enterprise, even
those assets beyond the firewall. Cloud and
mobility solutions allow decisions to be made
when and where they need to be to have the
greatest impact – not months later in an offsite
data center.
The HP portfolio of solutions helps position
global oil and gas clients to embrace a more
predictive and preventative operating model
that increases production and optimizes
resources while maintaining safety, security,
and environmental sustainability.
To learn more, visit the HP Oil, Gas, and Natural
Resources site.
11.Oil & Gas Edition
Exploit sensor data for real-time decision-making Each year, nonproductive time during drilling operations costs the oil and gas industry billions of dollars, accounting for a loss of approximately one-third of an oil and gas company’s average annual drilling budget. Whether the nonproductive time results from unavoidable downtime from maintenance activities, or from avoidable downtime caused by unforeseen problems, the result is still immensely expensive. HP Enterprise Services in collaboration with HP Labs is developing solutions that use data to deliver actionable insights that enable companies to minimize avoidable downtime and make unavoidable downtime more predictable.
The industry has been using SCADA systems,
control systems, precision sensors, and other
instruments to collect drilling, production,
and pipeline data for years. However,
this information was typically stored for
interpretation months later or for regulatory
purposes only and was rarely integrated. Today,
industry professionals are looking for real-time
access to the data as well as tools that enable
more informed decision-making.
HP technologists and researchers are
developing software that collects both sensor
data and other operational and environmental
information. In a process known as Live
Analytics, the breadth of disparate information
is aggregated using rich visualization and real-
time analytics over big data to deliver insights
into operational processes.
Live Analytics integrates live and historical data
as well as structured, semi-structured, and
unstructured data to fuse data management
with analytical models.
12. Oil & Gas Edition
Live Analytics enables oil and gas process
engineers to:
• Visualize large volumes of data
• Mine historical data for patterns and events
• Discover correlations, root causes, etc.
• Detect and predict patterns and events over
streaming data in real time
• Alert operations staff to take
appropriate action
Energize the information via visualizationThe common analysis and reporting tools
available today do not meet the needs of real-
time operational intelligence; they provide
only aggregate information based on tables,
spreadsheets, or fixed reports. Consequently,
it is difficult to perceive patterns and trends,
identify exceptions and alert conditions, zoom
in immediately on problem areas, and drill down
to understand root factors of problems.
One way to overcome these challenges is
through visual analytics, a rich combination
of information visualization and automated
analytic algorithms. Visual analytics taps into
the human abilities to perceive patterns and
quickly identify exceptions.
At HP Labs, we have created several innovative
visual analytics techniques that are based
on familiar visual metaphors, providing
customizable high-level “dashboard views”
for the executive and rich interactive “data
exploration” for the power user or analyst.
Companies can leverage HP’s data analytics
capabilities to make more of the data they
collect more useful in predicting downtime and
optimizing uptime in oil and gas exploration.
Make drilling more efficientThrough close collaboration, HP Enterprise
Services and HP Labs have turned cutting-edge
research into two proofs of concept. The first
proof point required mining operational data
from more than six months of operation from
five deep wells (approximately 25,000 feet
below the surface) and analyzing more than
180 parameters to characterize the drilling
systems and circulation system operations. This
data was then used to create models capable of
detecting sidetracks and stuck pipes, with the
goal of significantly increasing field recovery.
The second proof of concept examined data
from more than 250 shale gas well drilling
operations – including over 230 attributes
and 25,000 unstructured data log files – to
identify trending patterns of operational key
performance indicators. Extracting meaning
from the operational data involved analyzing
13.Oil & Gas Edition
historical data to identify patterns and the root
causes of issues. The historical information
was then compared against real-time data to
predict – and thereby prevent – downtime. These
projects can have a significant impact on the cost
of drilling thousands of shale gas wells.
These proofs of concept demonstrated the
benefits of using analytics to characterize and
optimize operational processes. Examples of
the insights gained include the following:
• Identifying the most predictive attributes
and observing their behaviors or signatures
before an event – such as tripping a well –
enabled the prediction of the duration of trip
time windows.
• Similarly, other signatures of combined
attributes enabled the modification of the
operational process plan to reduce downtime
by dynamically setting control parameters
such as mud quantity, drill bit rotation, power
requirement, and force/torque during drilling.
Additional insights into operational processes
can help avoid significant downtime resulting
from the lack of inventory or unscheduled
maintenance of operational equipment.
Interpreting the operational data led to the
creation of predictive analytics for key events
responsible for drilling downtime, enabling
more accurate cost forecasting and a better
business outcome.
Improve asset managementHP technologists have applied concepts from
virtual collaboration and Live Analytics to
manage operations of large and complex
assets. Using gaming industry technology –
instantaneous computational power and rich
3-D visualization capabilities – HP has developed
an advanced virtual collaboration solution.
This solution makes the benefits of multiple
information sources available to virtual users.
Integrating analytics and data mining techniques
and applying them to operational process
logs in a collaborative environment enable
better troubleshooting of drilling outages,
training of refinery employees, and operations
management of IT environments such as remote
data centers.
At HP, we look forward to the technological
advances that are in store for the oil and gas
industry. We will continue working with the
industry to discover novel ways of leveraging
granular analytics data that can increase
business intelligence and create outcomes
that matter.
To learn more about how HP is helping oil
and gas clients and to discover new ways to
implement emerging technologies, click here.
15.Oil & Gas Edition
Three critical enablers supporting the industry’s futureInnovations in mobility, security, and information management and analytics (IM&A) are enabling leaders in the oil and gas industry to realize greater efficiencies and output than what was possible only 10 years ago. Cost-effective remote sensors, wireless data transmission, and expanding data volumes, for example, have the potential to open up new drilling opportunities around the world, but gaining the greatest benefit requires an approach that truly integrates these three enablers.
MobilityThe use of mobile devices in the field is
not new in the oil and gas industry, but the
scope of mobile capabilities has expanded
dramatically. One-way data capture devices
are being replaced by mobile information
platforms that can wirelessly transmit
volumes of information for analysis from
remote locations to the office. Analysis results
are then received in the field, allowing workers
to make necessary adjustments. This two-way
communication also informs management of
where field workers are so task lists can be
restructured as daily priorities change.
Mobility also facilitates the use of sensors
to gather and store granular data related to
flow rates, pressures, and conditions. Data
that was previously stored for later review
can now be analyzed in real time, thereby
enabling quicker, better, and more educated
decision-making in the field.
In addition, delivering information to the
field also plays an integral role in equipment
maintenance. Data captured from existing or
new condition-based sensing via machine-to-
machine (M2M) solutions and applications can
be used to ensure optimal production without
compromising the assets.
16. Oil & Gas Edition
For instance, real-time operating data can
be linked with asset data (such as inspection
reports and maintenance documentation) to
detect performance anomalies that might
indicate equipment that’s deteriorating.
Instead of waiting for back-end processes to
be executed, this type of information can be
mobilized and deployed to the appropriate field
personnel for quick action and resolution, which
helps prevent failures in the field. Enabling quick
replacement or repurposing of equipment before
it fails helps reduce costs and makes downtime
more predictable.
Another way that mobility advances the industry
is by enabling companies to leverage capabilities
such as 3-D visualization to help field workers
better understand unique situations they might
encounter at remote sites. Using capabilities
commonly found in cell phones, 2-D and 3-D
images of equipment may be captured and
linked to back-end information stores. Far
more effective than written documents, these
visualizations can link to key information and
guide field personnel through inspections,
regular maintenance activities, training guides,
and troubleshooting.
SecurityWidespread collaboration of third parties,
independent software vendors, and joint
venture partners in the oil and gas industry
results in a pressing need to authenticate users
and limit access to only essential files, data,
or applications. Another element that makes
security crucial for oil and gas companies is that,
in development scenarios in particular, much
of the data is highly sensitive. The competitive
advantage provided by this information could
result in catastrophic circumstances if it were to
fall into the wrong hands.
Oil and gas firms must go beyond addressing
day zero threats and cybersecurity plans
to manage and maintain traditional assets
such as personal data and customer identity
information. Intellectual property comprising
seismic, engineering, and reservoir data, as well
as development plans and estimates, requires
strong data lifecycle management capabilities.
Because data sets and privacy needs are often
governed by regulations, knowing where data is,
where it’s going, and who is sending it is vital to
meeting requirements and keeping millions of
dollars in corporate assets secure.
Information management and analyticsDigital oilfields deliver an abundance of data.
Unfortunately, not everyone knows how this
data can be used and integrated with data from
17.Oil & Gas Edition
additional sources to make it truly meaningful.
IM&A solutions have the power to change this
by optimizing the upstream and downstream
information value chains. Oil and gas companies
with optimized value chains can refine their
business models from reactive to proactive in
order to become predictive and preventative. It
all relies on having the right information with the
right people when it is needed most.
By permitting companies to store and mine
volumes of both structured and unstructured
data, information management assures the
support of the integration of remote resources.
Solutions can pull resources from remote regions
and integrate them into the support, analysis,
and decision-making processes.
Contextual analysis has exceeded previous
capabilities, making data much more readily
accessible. In addition, innovative techniques
used to interpret unstructured data such
as seismic and geophysical information,
engineering drawings, videos, phone
conversations, and raw documents are
expediting data searches. Documents that might
have gone unused or underutilized in previous
years now have greater meaning and value.
Advances in IM&A also help ensure business
continuity as employee turnover occurs or
many experienced oil and gas professionals
retire. By permitting companies to store
and mine from volumes of structured and
unstructured data, information management
prevents the hard-earned knowledge from
leaving the company – or even the industry –
with these individuals’ departures.
Enabling the integrated approachMobility, security, and IM&A connect
operational and business systems, providing
an enterprise-wide view of security events,
resource locations, and operational patterns.
Oil and gas companies that leverage these
capabilities will be better suited to respond to
rapid market changes and focus on innovation
rather than the day-to-day operations,
resulting in a stronger competitive position.
A weakness in any of the three enablers –
security, mobility, or IM&A – could compromise
the integrity and availability of the information.
This leaves oil and gas companies vulnerable
to breakdowns in communication or unable to
access their own knowledge. As the industry
evolves to rely on more automated processes,
it is depending on capabilities that can support
and facilitate the seamless exchange of real-
time information.
To learn moreFor valuable insight on the power of IM&A,
see page 18.
To learn more about how mobility enables
a more efficient industry, see page 22.
For more information on the issues surrounding
enterprise security, see page 26.
18. Oil & Gas Edition
Master big data to optimize the oil and gas lifecycle Unleashing the power of data with information management and analytics (IM&A) solutions can enable oil and gas firms to use information strategically to reduce time to first oil, lower operating costs, and improve all areas of the oil and gas lifecycle.
Understanding and leveraging data in the
upstream business segment enables firms
to remain competitive throughout planning,
exploration, delineation, and field development.
The downstream segment depends on data
to maximize production with regards to
maintenance and forecasting. Fortunately,
oil and gas companies have access to an
abundance of valuable data in both upstream
and downstream operations. Unfortunately, this
information comes in various and increasingly
complex forms, making it a challenge for energy
firms to collect, interpret, and leverage the
disparate data.
IM&A solutions integrate common and
disparate data sets to deliver the right
information at the appropriate time to the
correct decision-maker. These capabilities
help companies act on large volumes of data,
transforming decision-making from reactive
to proactive and optimizing all phases of
exploration, development, and production.
IM&A solutions can benefit oil and gas firms by:
• Reducing time to first oil
• Increasing the productivity of assets across
their lifecycles
• Applying advanced business intelligence and
embedded analytics
• Ensuring the right information is available to
the workforce at the right time
• Improving planning and forecasting results
19.Oil & Gas Edition
Recognizing patterns in unstructured dataOne way to accelerate decision-making is
to link unstructured and structured data
together to enhance pattern recognition that
can improve the optimization of oil and gas
operations. For example, real-time data inputs
can be compared against patterns mined from
a historical database through base analytics or
enhanced visualization techniques. Companies
are able to identify issues and root causes in
massive volumes of information, then identify
and implement appropriate actions that will
treat the cause upon detecting the pattern,
rather than waiting for a crisis to trigger action.
Exploration
The challenge in exploration is to provide quick,
seamless, and automated access to structured
and unstructured seismic data for geophysical
interpretation. This linkage enables
geotechnical professionals to understand
the context in which seismic surveys were
conducted, and it makes supplementary
information available in real time to support
the decision-making process. Additional
benefits are gained when well master data
is integrated with unstructured information.
Correlating seismic and well production data
is critical to enabling unified production and
profitability analysis.
Integrating and potentially mobilizing this
information helps oil and gas firms optimize
processes by providing collaborative information
and integrating seismic data management with
unstructured information. This supports data
preservation, data quality, data accessibility, and
real-time process refresh.
For clients performing seismic studies, HP has
gone a step further – supporting high fidelity
seismic data capture by incorporating HP
accelerometers. These wireless self-powered
accelerometers provide greater density of
information, which results in increased visibility
and clarity to support geotechnical analysis.
Development
Development phase optimization includes
overall asset development, product lifecycle
management, and asset lifecycle management
techniques – with a focus on reducing the
duration of the development cycle. Optimizing
the supply chain in support of development
phase activities includes capturing and
validating information for drilling, well
development, facilities development, topsides
development, geophysical data, and security
efforts related to the access of control data.
IM&A supports analysis of data by following or
leveraging client or industry-based standards.
Compliance with standards ensures information
management capabilities are implemented and
supportable over the long term.
While current IM&A offerings can deliver
strong benefits, HP is working with clients
20. Oil & Gas Edition
to expand on the results and potential. HP is
piloting the deployment of additional sensing
capabilities during the drilling process,
which would allow more detailed subsurface
information to be gathered and correlated
with information originating from control and
historian systems. Enhanced benefits from the
initial results include:
• Provisioning of additional data that supports
flow rate analysis
• Capturing out-of-bounds activities during
well phase completion
• Establishing a broader information base for
use in pattern recognition of undesired events
HP leverages information gathered at the
development site to enhance results obtained
during the drilling process. Using complex
algorithms that correlate multiple information
sources, clients can identify signatures and
patterns associated with undesirable results.
Information is then fed back into automated
or manual control processes to either capture
potential events in real time or address needed
process changes to avoid suboptimal results.
Production
HP’s experienced IM&A professionals help clients
focus on uptime and production optimization
for both upstream and downstream operations.
Oil and gas companies can identify appropriate
signatures through the use of HP-developed
algorithms to analyze information from multiple
control systems and data historians. These
algorithms are then implemented in appropriate
real-time control systems to act automatically,
or support manual processes for intervention or
process change.
Around the world, HP works with clients to
optimize results such as uptime with condition-
based maintenance techniques involving the
linkage and analysis of real-time operating
data with asset maintenance and inspection
data. The increased use of mobility solutions,
whether based on common mobile devices or
sophisticated machine-to-machine systems,
provides another set of potential data
streams for either analysis or condition-based
monitoring activities.
In support of this, the trend toward an
integrated operations model – providing
common, standardized data for improved
processes and enhancing the ability to detect,
analyze, and show trends in operational data
aberrations – helps to significantly facilitate
optimizing uptime. For example, by leveraging
a predictive/preventative model, oil and gas
companies can better determine if a piece of
21.Oil & Gas Edition
equipment is degrading or requires inspection
or maintenance, or should have its primary
duty changed based on fatigue or power cycles.
Compliance and incident response
The increased web of local, state, and federal
regulations that change and mature with
increasing activity of nonconventional assets
has increased compliance requirements across
the oil and gas lifecycle. Documentation
and the ability to show traceability across
structured and unstructured information
help demonstrate what activity happened
and when, so it is clear when the energy firm
has completed the steps necessary to avoid
incidents, mitigate impacts, resolve problems,
and prevent similar incidents in the future.
Comprehensive IM&A solutions for the oil and gas industriesTo become one of tomorrow’s
market leaders, oil and gas
firms must unlock the value
within the huge amounts of
data they have. HP can help
these companies leverage
the power of technology to
capitalize on, not simply adapt
to, challenges involving the
management of this wealth of
information. By implementing
robust operational data stores for structured
and unstructured information combined
with powerful analytics platform capabilities
designed to handle large volumes of streaming
and historical data, firms can reduce time to oil
and improve operational results.
HP works with oil and gas clients to reduce
costs across the value chain by mining,
collecting, and correlating historical data
to determine the root cause of operational
inefficiencies. The IM&A portfolio extends from
upfront enterprise information management
consulting to implementation of IM&A solutions
at the enterprise level. HP integrates its
algorithmic analysis capabilities from HP Labs
and Enterprise Services with the HP Vertica
platform for real-time structured data analytics
and HP Autonomy for optimizing unstructured
data analytics.
To learn more about solutions that can help you
optimize the oil and gas lifecycle, download the
viewpoint paper “Master big data to optimize
the oil and gas lifecycle.”
23.Oil & Gas Edition
Pump up efficiency with mobility While mobility solutions have long been used for transferring field data to the office for analysis, oil and gas companies are now seeing value in extending coverage to drilling and production locations. In so doing, they are creating a fully bidirectional, always-on, real-time infrastructure that can drive significant improvements in operational efficiency.
24. Oil & Gas Edition
Mobility – including machine-to-machine
(M2M) solutions – helps increase reliability,
enhances resource allocation, and provides
access to the real-time data that enables field
workers to be more productive. Armed with
their mobile device of choice or ruggedized
versions, field staff are able to:
• Manage work schedules efficiently and
reduce downtime
• Maximize access to a limited and often
shrinking pool of subject matter experts by
receiving guidance on field problems and
operations remotely
• Document field conditions and accurately
convey situations to supervisors, subject
matter experts, and third-party analysts for
prompt guidance and problem-solving
• Enable in-the-field decision-making with
real-time access to drilling information, well
management applications, maintenance
records, inspection logs, and environmental,
health, and safety data
• Check inventory data or initiate the
procurement process for replacement parts
25.Oil & Gas Edition
Furthermore, field workers are also better
integrated into the management command and
control system. Mobility solutions with location-
based services (LBS) allow supervisors to adjust
workers’ task assignments to meet changing
conditions throughout the day. These real-time
adjustments keep limited resources continuously
prioritized, dispatched, and productive.
Put mobility to use both upstream and downstreamNew mobility solutions extend and integrate
rich, real-time communication across the
primary phases of the oil and gas industry while
helping to integrate the value chain through to
pipeline, wholesale, and retail distribution.
As exploration and production assets,
engineers, and other subject matter experts
become more geographically dispersed,
frequent communication and operational
integration are crucial. Drilling in challenging
physical environments and hazardous locations
comes with high operating expenses. While
downtime is never wanted, it is unacceptable in
these situations due to the astronomical costs.
Mobility reduces the delays that can occur in
dispatching, navigating, and decision-making.
Mobility also aids production by introducing
more cost-effective precision in managing,
maintaining, and repairing oil and gas assets.
Workers can be dispatched to a new problem
and provided with the navigational guidance
to solve it directly. RFID tags or bar codes
reduce errors that occur as a result of human
error inputting serial numbers and ensure that
workers know they are working on the right
piece of equipment.
Armed with access to maintenance records
and engineering drawings, workers can more
proactively address potential problems. They
can also search logs to find prior fixes, and
notify their supervisors to verify that the
repairs were successful.
M2M sensors also provide operational
benefits. These wireless sensors provide
the granularity of data and LBS information
needed to determine and isolate problems.
When alerted by these sensors, mobile-
equipped supervisors and field workers can
mobilize more efficiently to solve the problem,
ultimately reducing downtime, streamlining
trips to remote locations, and better
controlling maintenance costs and spend.
Harness the power of mobilityTo learn more about how HP can help oil and gas
companies leverage mobility solutions to achieve
operational excellence across the entire value
chain, read the viewpoint paper “Maximizing the
benefits of mobility for oil and gas.”
26. Oil & Gas Edition
What’s driving increased security needs?Security threats to the oil and gas industry –
whether physical or virtual in nature – have
the potential to make a huge, destructive
impact on firms and even the global
economy. From compromising sensitive
or competitive information to disrupting
power, the effects can be far reaching.
Unfortunately, securing today’s oil and gas
supply and the supporting infrastructure is
no simple task. Modern attempts to breach
oil and gas enterprise infrastructure and
data are characterized by sophistication,
agility, complexity, and coordination.
The need for enterprise-wide protectionOil and gas companies must secure the
enterprise to protect business operations, the
reputation of the business, as well as national
and international energy supplies. With immense
reliance on energy, security breaches for energy
Once more unto the breach: Comprehensive security in the digital age
27.Oil & Gas Edition
companies can be far more crippling overall than
security breaches of financial systems.
In the oil and gas industry, events like breaches,
the proliferation of remote technologies, and
compliance failures are driving the need for
comprehensive security strategies – strategies
that incorporate hardware, software, and
services to address vulnerabilities. But a
number of challenges stand in the way of
developing that comprehensive security
strategy. These challenges include:
• Legacy security portfolios – Developed
incrementally with building blocks, legacy
portfolios typically result in gaps and overlaps
in protection because they are not integrated.
• Sophisticated threats – Security protection
becomes increasingly complex over time.
• Diversity of users – Employees, third
parties, and joint venture partners make it
difficult to establish and enforce uniform
security measures.
• Integration within infrastructure – Multiple levels are being integrated, which
means that vulnerability in one level can
lead to vulnerability in another, as with
linked applications.
• Dynamic threats – The list of threats
is constantly changing, and adequate
protection one day does not mean it’s
adequate the next.
• Culture – Existing company culture
can be resistant to intrusive security
implementations.
Strategic considerations for enterprise-wide security and protectionA comprehensive framework
Threats, along with the proliferation of
potential entry points, make a siloed
approach to cybersecurity obsolete. Oil
and gas security based on a patchwork of
departmental or business unit solutions
is now too weak to counter current and
emerging threats. Instead, HP focuses on
securing the enterprise with an end-to-end
framework that takes a holistic approach to
understanding the business and its data.
The HP security architecture considers multiple
layers within your enterprise, including
governance, operations, data, networks,
applications, and endpoint security. For oil
and gas companies, it is particularly important
to address security concerns associated with
control systems – such as SCADA systems – and
smart endpoint devices that can be controlled
remotely. Existing processes such as identity
management and virus detection will need
to be addressed along with new processes
associated with data privacy and intrusion
countermeasures.
28. Oil & Gas Edition
Data privacy and security issues require enterprise-wide security architecture
Due to the actions of privacy advocacy groups
as well as legislative and regulatory bodies, oil
and gas firms must accommodate more data
privacy and security requirements than ever
before. These requirements and regulations
come with punitive financial penalties for the
company itself and for its executives.
To deal with security issues effectively, oil and
gas firms need an enterprise-wide security
architecture and need to develop processes
that safeguard data privacy and security. In the
case of data privacy, for instance, it is necessary
to create new data-type groupings within the
data taxonomy of the enterprise. These new
designations support applications, networks,
and devices to prevent unauthorized sharing or
disclosure of customers’ private data and the
firm’s own competitive data.
Today, enterprises need to build a robust
security posture to address the vulnerabilities
they face with enormous amounts of
unstructured data and related automated
data handling. Unstructured data, including
portfolio, geophysical, engineering, and
asset development documents, needs to be
integrated and secured as its high competitive
value attracts sophisticated assaults.
An enterprise cybersecurity integration
framework can help counter these threats while
delivering more value. One of the benefits of
a comprehensive security framework is the
ability to protect the large data sets that may
be mined for business intelligence. If handled
inadequately, the data becomes vulnerable
to unauthorized exposure through websites,
emails, notification texts, or public portals.
The consequences of this unwanted disclosure
to a company’s reputation, not to mention its
bottom line, can be devastating. Therefore,
to increase the privacy of the data, security
architectures must be linked to enterprise
data architectures that have been upgraded to
accommodate unstructured data.
A secure data strategy considers information across its lifecycle
A comprehensive security architecture
considers processes from beginning to end. The
enterprise security architectures developed
by HP incorporate this lifecycle approach to
data security from the initial data capture
to archiving. With the increasing demand for
business analytics, this lifecycle approach to
security is becoming even more crucial as the
data itself has value and should be protected as
well as the applications that access it.
Integration of legacy and next-generation technologies provides end-to-end view
Many progressive oil and gas companies have
encountered difficulties integrating intelligent
oilfield technologies with legacy point-to-point
technologies because of the required data
volumes and the complexity associated with
integrating disparate systems. With the trend
toward integrated operations, overcoming
difficulties with integrated architectures,
toolsets, and strategies becomes more critical.
These oil and gas companies most often
turn to service-oriented architecture (SOA)
29.Oil & Gas Edition
approaches in which they employ enterprise
service bus (ESB) toolsets, agile development
methodologies, and SOA governance. Used
correctly, SOA tools and architectures can
be powerful enforcers of enterprise security
policy. Used incorrectly, they can leave data
and processes unsecured. To successfully make
the move, SOA approaches must incorporate
adequate security design and testing.
A major element of an end-to-end enterprise
security architecture is granular visibility into
essential operations. Oil and gas companies
must be able to provide complete operational
monitoring, policy management, and
compliance, as well as generate regulatory
reports. Enabling this type of environment
demands a multifaceted view and is critical for
the cohesiveness of the overall architecture. To
be effective, the enterprise security architecture
should provide a robust security portal capable
of managing dynamic data inputs from
heterogeneous sources; the ability to generate
real-time alerts and updates to web, text, and
mobile users; and the functionality to support
regular compliance reporting.
Security demands a comprehensive framework and approachSecuring enterprise data in the oil and gas
industry is an evolving process that requires
a deep understanding of how to incorporate
protective measures in every element of
the infrastructure. Oil and gas companies
can ensure the security of their intellectual
property to succeed in an ultracompetitive
marketplace by developing a comprehensive
framework that accommodates complexity
in identity authentication, facilitates
collaboration and mobile access, and delivers
security beyond the firewall.
To learn moreFor details on the HP Enterprise Security
Services portfolio, click here.
• Security Consulting Services
• Managed Security Services
• Security Governance Services
Click here to learn more about market-leading
HP software that delivers security intelligence
spanning IT operations, applications, and
infrastructure. This solution set includes
industry-leading security toolsets such as:
• HP ArcSight security visibility software
• HP Fortify application security software
• HP TippingPoint network security software
30. Oil & Gas Edition
Considering the cloud? Follow three big rules to get started.
Accelerating the process of locating and producing oil and gas is a key success factor for the industry today, and harnessing massive amounts of data to generate insight is a critical requirement. The need to process information faster has compelled oil and gas companies to become early technology adopters. Through the years, technology can be credited for many industry advances and efficiencies, thanks to high performance computing, remote operations, or remote processing.
Cloud computing has the potential to once
again help accelerate the time to first oil,
and one would imagine an industry of early
adopters would jump on this new opportunity.
However, many oil and gas companies struggle
with inflexible, legacy infrastructures, and
competing technology priorities such as
security and mobility. Consequently, the oil and
gas industry has been slower to adopt the cloud
services model than other industries.
Defining the cloud
The National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) defines cloud as “a model
for enabling convenient, on-demand network
access to a shared pool of configurable
computing resources (e.g., networks, servers,
storage, applications, and services) that
can be rapidly provisioned and released
with minimal management effort or service
provider interaction.”
Cloud embodies five essential characteristics:
• Usage-based metering and billing –
Cloud must offer and account for
“pay-as-you-go” capabilities.
• Reachable – Companies are able to leverage
the network with which the cloud collaborates.
• Self-service – Provide a simple, hassle-free
way to invoke its service and allow clients
to sign up, provision, and use compute
resources without waiting.
31.Oil & Gas Edition
• Resource pooling – Identify and provision
resources to clients without regard to the
physical location of the resource.
• Elastic – Users can expand and contract
usage based on their true application
execution time frames.
Cloud-based services can be delivered in various
ways. The three most common cloud models are:
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – Users
can rent storage, processing, network,
or other compute resources to build the
platform needed to support applications.
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) – Users are
given an environment to build an application
and use the resources of the hosting cloud.
• Software as a Service (SaaS) – Users
leverage business processes, activities, or
tasks done in full-featured applications that
are available by network (Internet) access and
are contracted for use on a subscription basis.
These services can be delivered through private
clouds, public clouds, community clouds, or
hybrid options.
Three big but simple rules for selecting cloud optionsSelecting a model for cloud usage is
determined by business requirements that
are driven by internal needs and rules from
clients, partner-specific stipulations, and
industry regulations regarding what data can
be accessed by whom and when. Key rules for
consideration include the special security and
service-level agreement (SLA) requirements
mandated by the industry. Additionally,
gatekeepers are essential for public cloud
governance. While not an exhaustive list, the
following rules cover most of the basics.
Rule #1 – Legislative and regulatory mandates, combined with business and partner rules, will determine each application’s ability to leverage the variations of cloud.
The biggest challenge to public cloud use for oil
and gas pertains to how proprietary information
is handled and secured when it’s not being
accessed by an application. The volume and
value of proprietary data, trade secrets, process
details, and the like are all magnified in an
industry with so much competition.
While access and transit of data can be tracked,
public clouds don’t necessarily indicate
where data is stored. In applications that use
native cloud access methods, the data might
physically reside on a device that is outside the
country being served and has the potential to
violate local regulations.
Rule #2 – The practice of requiring and managing to SLAs dictates viable cloud variations.
Infrastructure that supports the execution of
applications utilized by field workers typically
requires guaranteed service levels. Public
cloud providers find it difficult to manage to
32. Oil & Gas Edition
an SLA because they can’t necessarily control
system demand. Oil and gas companies tend
to be more likely to sign up for an SLA in
private or community cloud environments
where data location may also be specified, as
these models facilitate the implementation
of processes and governance models to assist
with control of the environments.
Rule #3 – Implementing a public or private cloud policy and enforcing it through a gatekeeper is key to success.
Public cloud offerings allow access to a subset
of resources and the ability to perform limited
testing on an application. They provide the
ability for anyone with a credit card to obtain
fast service. They can eliminate the “hassle
factor” applications development team
members often feel when they are trying to
obtain resources to complete assignments;
however, they can also lead to the next level
of “technology sprawl.” Public cloud is also
a strong option for production applications
in which the oil and gas company wants to
deliver information to the public, such as when
deploying a marketing campaign.
From an enterprise perspective, a public cloud
use policy must be established and enforced
through a gatekeeper governance model.
That policy must include clear directions on
what applications are eligible for public cloud
development. It must remind team members
that proprietary data cannot be used in testing
in non-secured environments. It must establish
time limits for use of public cloud resources
and must enforce the cleanup of resources no
longer required. The policy should require team
members to log their use of cloud, including
information on what application is exposed, what
data is being used, and how long the resources
will be needed, as well as for what purpose.
With these policies in place, alternatives
must then be offered through either standard
infrastructure offerings or private clouds that
provide the benefits and promise of the cloud,
yet respect and represent the reality of managing
complex compute and data environments.
HP as your cloud partnerHP provides cloud services to oil and gas
companies. From automated, flexible testing
services to support for complex analysis of large
data sets for compliance activities, business
needs are increasingly being met through the
flexibility offered by cloud models.
HP Converged Cloud Solutions, integrated
with enterprise security and mobility
capabilities, mitigate specific industry
concerns while providing enhanced access in
the field. HP addresses concerns for the oil
and gas industry relative to:
1. Security of information in the cloud. HP
Security Solutions enable protection,
management, and tracking of data. This
allows only approved users to access data,
to manage which users have access to what
data and where, and to enable tracking of
where valuable and sensitive corporate and
33.Oil & Gas Edition
client data has been copied and moved.
The solution includes providing HP cloud
services in HP data centers that are certified
by the U.S. Federal Government as meeting
NERC-CIP and NIST-800 security standards
or supporting clients in meeting these
standards for private or hybrid clouds.
2. Scale and speed of applications required
for 3-D and 4-D rendering and graphic
accelerators, including those applications
that have yet to move off the workstation.
Cloud-based processing enables
unprecedented speed and scale for support
of these applications.
3. Stringent response and availability targets
as well as the need for ironclad high-speed
continuance and recovery options.
4. Cultural resistance to moving to a service-
based solution versus building and owning
the infrastructure.
In addition to these business and information
concerns, HP also addresses issues regarding
cost, access, and capability. These include:
• Cost-efficiency and heightened return
on investment expectations, especially
in relation to new ventures and remote
exploration start-ups.
• Known price points for cloud-based IT
services that offer an immediacy of access to
off-the-shelf delivery, removing much of the
guesswork from those activities.
• Secure mobile access beyond transferring
field data to the office for analysis, and
mobile coverage that extends to drilling and
production locations.
• Integrated management and support for
the integration of local, automated, and
remote operations.
• Information management solutions
that help collect, process, and analyze
information without investment in large
infrastructure, to enable the integration
of structured data, unstructured data, and
associated analytical processing.
To learn more about how HP can help you apply
these big three rules of cloud computing, visit
the website.
Why HP?Energy producers around the world are searching for new reserves and looking for ways to efficiently produce existing supplies in-line with marketplace pricing. At the same time, they are working to balance supply and demand, ensure the security of the infrastructure and the supply chain, and reach new levels of operational efficiency. HP provides the people and technology solutions to help oil and gas companies achieve key business outcomes, including reducing time to first oil and creating a financially sustainable future.
By providing a broad portfolio of solutions, from security to information management and analytics (IM&A) to cloud and mobility, HP enables oil and gas companies to advance via a more predictive and preventative operating model. Ultimately, these solutions lead to increased production and optimized resources in all segments of the business. These and other HP capabilities make it possible for energy firms to leverage information technology in support of conventional and non-conventional production and operations activities while managing risk and responsibilities.
With decades of experience helping clients around the globe, HP understands the nuances of the oil and gas industry – from industry-specific issues and challenges to opportunities and best practices. Our innovative solutions provide the necessary infrastructure models and mobile application capabilities to facilitate field workforce activities, collaboration, and business process standardization – helping oil and gas companies deliver outcomes that matter.
HP:5/7Serves five of the top seven national oil companies around the globe
Leading ITIs a leading provider of IT services to the oil and gas industry worldwide
$3.5 billionInvests $3.5 billion in research and development each year
25 yearsHas been delivering ruggedized IT solutions and hardware to remote locations for more than 25 years
35.Oil & Gas Edition
Co-innovatorIs the co-innovator of the new information ecosystem, the Central Nervous System for the Earth (CeNSE), which delivers an unprecedented level of information to support increased analysis of conventional and non-conventional resources
50 PBManages the world’s largest private cloud with 50 PB of storage
575 cloudsPowers 575 private and public clouds with HP CloudSystem
10 yearsHas been developing mobile applications for more than 10 years
Employs 1,000Employs more than 1,000 mobile application development professionals with cross-platform experience30 + 115
Has more than 30 mobile UE experts and more than 115 mobile testing experts 3rd largest
Is the world’s third-largest managed security services provider1 million apps
Helps secure more than 1 million applications and 2.6 billion lines of code 600 patents
Has more than 600 security patents
Employs 3,000Employs more than 3,000 security and privacy professionals Reduces costs
Can reduce application operating costs by 30 to 60 percent, application maintenance by 50 to 65 percent, and application development costs by 30 to 50 percent
150+ successesHas more than 150 application modernization client successes
18 yearsHas 3,500 information management and analytics consulting professionals, averaging 18 years of experience
Fortune 500Has provided IM&A services to Fortune 500 clients globally, including leading integrated and non-integrated oil and gas firms, for more than 16 years
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© Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
4AA4-3732ENW, Created October 2012
Learn moreLearn more by visiting hp.com/go/oilgas.