The world has moved beyond Covid-19 and industries are scaling up production twice in comparison to what they used to do before. Oil and gas industry being the engine of the economy in the current era is facing demands above pre-covid levels and is expected to boost their production twice in the upcoming years. As we start looking for renewable sources of energy, companies in the oil and gas industry look to enhance their production to extract and monetise the lurking opportunity. 5G networks will be the catalyst in solving the challenges that lay ahead.
Oil and gas industry is segmented into three crucial streams: Upstream, Midstream and Downstream. Upstream is about extraction of oil and gas, Midstream is for transportation, and Downstream refers to refining into fuels and other products. Each segment continues to face challenges of their own. The demand in production along with the pressure to keep production costs down, makes it more tough for industry to cope up. Safety, unexpected shutdowns, lack of automation, increased costs due to wired network systems, lack of sensors and decision-making with restrictions to keep the carbon footprint in check are some major challenges, which the industry needs to solve with immediate effect.
Call it a coincidence or blessing in disguise, as 5G has emerged when the industrial shift is taking place and the oil and gas industry tends to be pioneers in implementing new technology. The private 5G network will boost their process of implementation and adoption of technologies like AI/ML, cloud computing, IoT etc. Remote monitoring and use of autonomous vehicles highly contributes to enhancing operations. Analytics and inspection with the help of robots will help in reducing the maintenance costs, hence helping the companies to invest further. Private 5G networks will bring out new use cases and models, along with boundless connectivity. 5G will streamline the whole process, exchanging data in real-time, the untapped potential can be enabled via 5G helping the industries to meet the demands, while simultaneously reducing costs in their operation with increased safety.
The use of 5G in the oil and gas industry is immense, surveillance and security at the enterprise is one of the essential requirements as a part of industry is located off-shores and distant areas where manned operations becomes difficult at times. Thus the requirement of autonomous robots and drones emerge too. Implementation of motion detection sensors and process automation is also required to bring out the best from the oil and gas industry. A private 5G network implemented into the enterprise will lead to easy and successful usage of the above technologies with real-time speed and data processing, as 5G has reduced latency, network slicing and benefit of multiple devices connected at once without any hassle.
Over the years every industry has found out ways to survive the demands of their clients, as the world moves towards faster, economical and sustainable generation, 5G will act as a catalyst not only to the oil and gas industry but to other industries as well. The private 5G network is in its nascent stages but the future looks bright. Whether it’s about finding new oil fields or increasing productivity, 5G is a key enabler. Private 5G networks like Niral Networks have the potential and solutions to meet the customer needs. As the 5G network opens a world full of possibilities, bringing safer and enhanced technologies into an industry's operations one should try to grab a piece of it as soon as possible.
