How Private Networks are
Accelerating Oil & Gas Efficiency
Remote site connectivity supports condition
monitoring, predictive analytics and otheremergent applications

How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

In the past, connecting to oil & gas industry remote field assets was either slow,
uncertain or expensive — or even somecombination of the three.

characterized by remote operations, gain fromtelecommunications advances. Sprawling
downstream facilities, such as refineries andpetro-chemical plants, also benefit.

Upstream, midstream and downstream oil &gas today look to private 4G and 5G networks
as the standard for advanced wireless datatransmission. What’s called last-mile connectivity is key to the industry’s journey to digitaltransformation.

Støldal addressed specifics of the high-techoffshore oil & gas industry, particularly thecommunications infrastructure that Ericsson
partner Tampnet makes available in the Gulf of
Mexico, the North Sea and elsewhere aroundthe world.

A recent Oil & Gas Engineering webcast lookedat current issues being addressed by private
cellular networks in the oil & gas industry. The
webcast was sponsored by telecommunications
provider Ericsson. The presenters were Viren
Parikh, a director of business development,
Ericsson, and Frode Støldal, chief digital officer,
Tampnet.

Emerging technologies increase the need forlast-mile connectivity. For example, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and edge computing
make condition monitoring and predictive maintenance an affordable possibility. Computer
analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence are quickly becoming mainstream technologies. All add to the demand for secure data
connectivity.

Parikh showed how telecommunications andthe oil & gas industries intersect across the
upstream, midstream and downstream industry sectors. The upstream and midstream,“We’ll look at the opportunity private networks
offer the oil & gas industry, exemplified in the ideaof ‘one network to rule them all’,” Parikh began.

2How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

Long-term commitment
As a market leader in global 4G and 5G network
infrastructure, Ericsson supplies the means to
unlock connectivity’s value.
Headquartered in Stockholm, Ericsson has presence in 180 different countries and annual revenue inrecent years of anywherefrom $23 billion to $26
billion. It employs about
95,000 worldwide with morethan 45,000 patents in communications, wireless communications and wireline
communications-related intellectual property.
“We’re the leader in LTE and 5G technologies.
At this moment, 97 of 180 globally deployed live
5G networks are based on Ericsson technology,” Parikh said.

generation (4G) wireless broadband standard.
LTE offers higher bandwidth, meaning fasterconnection speeds, and better underlying technology for voice calls (VoIP) and multimedia
streaming.
5G is the fifth-generation technology standard
for broadband cellular networks, which communications service providers began deploying
worldwide in 2019 and is the planned successor
for today’s cellular networks.
The advantages of private LTE or 5G networks
include:• High bandwidth, low latency•S upport for important use cases—voice,mission-critical push-to-talk (MC-PTT), autonomous machines, remote control, predictive maintenance, environmental sensing•R eliable and predictable performance

For those not among the cognoscenti, LTE
stands for Long Term Evolution and is the 4th•C ost-efficient — compared to Wi-Fi

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How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency• Rich device ecosystem gives companies
more choices for communications•E nd-to-end security, using SIMs, on both
network and device levels. Wi-Fi standards
only cover L1-L2 security.
Regarding private networks, Ericsson has morethan 50 5G industry-collaboration programs goingon across the globe and in multiple industries.
To accomplish this, an entire ecosystem of operators, industry partners and device makers isneeded.
Tampnet operates the largest offshore highcapacity communications networks in the world.
“Tampnet is focused on the oil & gas sector.
It’s a strong partner because of the expertiseit brings to bear and the level of engagement it
has in the industry,” Parikh said. “At the centerof it all is the connected worker. Companies
want to connect personnel wherever they are,without congestion, without interruption andwith minimal delay.”

Ericsson manages an ecosystem of partners inoil & gas, including automation and application
suppliers, private network providers and moduleand gateway suppliers.

Partnership programs allow Ericsson to better
understand how connectivity demand is evolving. Partners include hardware, software andapplication providers. The Ericsson ecosystem
includes the independent software providers,
OEMs and system integrators to furnish theglue that melds the different pieces.

4How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency“Remote site inspections are increasingly carriedout with drones. 5G enables drones to do a number of things simultaneously. It’s controlled wirelessly and it’s equipped with a camera. The drone
captures images to stream to backend systems,
perhaps analyzing the data. 5G low latency andpeak throughput speeds make a difference,”
Parikh said.

Cross-industry applications
Private cellular network solutions for the oil &gas industry are enabling major safety and efficiency improvements and uncovering businessvalue for the oil and gas sector.
Site inspections: Use of drones for site inspections has application across industry sectors.
Conducting site inspections can be hazardous.
It’s time consuming, ridden with incidents andburdened with an abundance of must-comply
security regulations and measures.

Drone-based inspections eliminate the risk associated with manual inspections and the plethoraof equipment otherwise needed. That translates
into worker safety. Moreover, any production
downtime associated with manual inspections
can be dramatically minimized.
“Based on studies from Ericsson and industry
consultants, it’s been estimated approximately
three out of every four manual inspections canbe eliminated. Further, it’s been estimated thatup to 90% of the time spent on manual inspections can be eliminated,” Parikh said.
“Push to X”: Push-to-x is a service that gives
professionals using smartphones reliable access5How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and used in commercial
products around the world.
•L and mobile radio (LMR) allows push-totalk two-way communications between
radio transceivers. LMR is used in mission-critical communications in public
safety and industrial environments.
Industrial users are looking to move beyond thelimitations of their DMR and LMR systems.

to voice, video, multimedia and location information and instant sharing with a defined group ofpeople, all at the push of a button.
IT managers often speak to Ericsson about renewing their DMR and LMR systems, Parikh said.
• D igital mobile radio (DMR) is a limited open
digital mobile radio standard defined by

Typically, these systems are bandwidth limited. With an LTE or 5G integrated push-to-talksystem, all the traditional functionality is there
along with the additional capability to use video and other applications.
In addition, users have options for transitioning legacy systems. Legacy equipment runningon LMR or DMR can integrate into LTE. Alternatively, two systems can run in parallel until
the time comes to sunset the LMR system.
This allows for a more graceful transition when6How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

ROI for oil & gas industry private network
Private networks provide reliable connectivity
for increased efficiency, productivity and safety
for the offshore platforms and refineries.
ROI for selected use cases• Asset conditioning monitoring of pumps
and compressors• Conncted workers ensuring safe working
conditions• Remote site inspection

introducing new technologies, whether it’s in arefinery or remote facility.
Ericsson has been implementing push-to-talksystems on LTE for quite some time. A primaryreason users choose LTE is to replace their DMR
system. They can do more with a DMR systemembedded as an application on the LTE network.

Network consolidation andadvancement“Before turning to the specifics of the offshore
oil & gas industry, I want to leave you with theidea of the one network to rule them all,” Parikh
said. “Network consolidation is a worthy goal
for IT managers. It represents a simpler operations model.”If you’re an IT manager, imagine the simplicity of running one network versus running two,
three or four parallel networks, one for Wi-Fi,
one for Bluetooth, one for LMR. Imagine one
network with all the different end devices needed for network availability, security hardening
and coverage capacity.
Coverage capacity is the biggest issue for oil &gas companies looking at private networks. It’sno small matter, however, that LTE and 5G arebased on strict 3GPP standards and have hardened built-in security with encryption and layersof security protocols.
Ericsson believes the 3GPP-based technologies,
which include 5G, can best achieve the goals of
the oil & gas industry. 3GPP standards guarantee
the level of performance required for the industry’s demanding applications. 3GPP -based

7

How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

technologies such as LTE and 5G are part of thelarge ecosystem shared by almost all the world’s
mobile providers. The 3GPP ecosystem can accommodate different localized technologies suchas LoRa, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

oil & gas platforms, floating production storageand offloading units, exploration rigs and vessels
in the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea and own
more than 4,500 kilometers of fiber as infrastructure,” Støldal said.

In typical deployments, LTE and 5G can act asboth middle and last mile and can be the baseunderlying wireless technology for a typical oil &gas plant. Because of these benefits, 3GPP has
been increasingly adopted by industrial sectorsthat have very similar use cases and requirements to oil & gas.

The innovation made possible by availabilityof high-capacity, low-latency networks is increasingly clear. “Data traffic in the last year
increased somewhere between 1,500% to2,000%. Digital transformation is changing
communication patterns and best-practice operations,” Støldal said.

Cellular infrastructure available
Tampnet provides offshore assets with highspeed Internet connection through a subsea
fiber-optic broadband network. It also installs
and operates an offshore 4G LTE network.
High-capacity Internet access enables digitalization.
“Tampnet’s expertise lies in high-capacity,
low-latency infrastructure for the offshore oil &gas, renewable energy and mission-critical industries. We operate on more than 350 offshore

8How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

Tampnet operates fiber-optic networks in the Gulf of
Mexico, the North Sea and other global locations.

Acquired from BP in 2020, the fiber-optic network in the Gulf of Mexico encompasses about
100,000 square miles and is based on 4G technology, soon to be enhanced to 5G. The network
adheres to the same standards as onshore networks. The cell phone, for example, of an AT&T
subscriber works at sea just as it does on land.
The preexisting 2G cellular network was up­
graded with an Ericsson redundant Core LTE/
GSM RAN network, while the Tetra micro network on each rig was replaced with an Ericsson
microwave solution designed for high humidity.
This upgrade solution ensured that high-capacity, low-latency data and voice services were
now available and providing benefits to morethan 50 oil rig platforms.
The North Sea network is about the same sizeas that in the Gulf of Mexico and encompasses
an area a bit larger than the United Kingdom
itself. “Global operations in the Gulf of Mexico

9How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

and the North Sea transpirebased on identical protocols,
standards and interfaces,”
said Støldal. “We recently
launched a similar network in
Canada. Within weeks, we’ll
be launching in Trinidad andTobago.”Connectivity enables digitalization, “which is the road
we’re traveling on together,”said Støldal. “We’re in the early days of this transformation,
but users are executing use
cases by connecting to our
network.”

Private cellular
networks
Private cellular networks provide the cov­erage and redundancy essential for remoteand autonomous operations.

10How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency“Offshore platforms are massive steel con­structions. Traditionally, complete coverage
would face multiple obstructions,” said Støldal.

The connected platform encompasses a wide
range of IoT-connected devices supporting asset
integrity, measurement, safety and operational
ap­plications, as well as additional services.

“We have about 40 assets where every inch of anoil platform or rig is connected. Benchmarks show Implementing these solutions allows remotethis end-to-end capability is delivered with a priassets to benefit from the latest industrial comvate network at 20% of the cost of using Wi-Fi.”puting technology and supports operator safety,
environmental and cost-reduction goals.
Benefits include as follows:• 80% lower cost than Wi-Fi• 100% coverage possible• Ex and ATEX approved solution•m eets requirements of IIOT
technology• Compatible with legacy PLC andoperational systems.
For the offshore oil & gas industry, theresult is an integrated system with theconnected worker and the connected
platform solutions, with the connected worker accessing a wide range ofservices on the net­work, supported
by digital workflows.

11How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

The Industrial Internet ofThings (IIoT) combines advances in sensors, connectivity and analytics to accomplish remote process andequipment monitoring. Lowcost vibration, temperatureand pressure sensors allow
comprehensive installations
on motors, pumps and alltypes of rotating equipment.
Further advances in asset integrity monitoring
for fixed and structural systems, such as pipewall thickness and corrosion/erosion monitoring, and process monitoring may also be connected. Even legacy systems can be retrofittedwith modules to allow 4G communication.
Industry 4.0 culminates in mass implementationof digital twins, robotics, and augmented reality,
as well as private networks.

Public/private hybrids
If complete individual public and private net-

works are required, the two must work together whilst maintaining security, flexibility andreliability.
The architecture of a private network setup, seen
as a rig or platform asset service, allows a complete local breakout at the asset level, including
data and communication authentication, but also
full-access control of the public network. An asset service manager enables third parties to access networks hassle free, which otherwise caninvolve complicated authorization and security.
The private network can be sliced in different

12How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

dimensions, helping users to digitalize workflows. “It helps users do more, optimizing resources such as remote workers carrying out
remote inspections,” Støldal said.

The flexibility of its authentication method is a
key enabler of 5G for industrial use cases.

LTE specifies two user equipment states, idle
and connected, so as to avoid unnecessary
Ongoing convergence of information technolosignaling. Tampnet’s private networks ensuregies and operations technologies (IT/OT) height- operations continue even if the connection is lostens security concerns and the need to alignor the fiber goes down. Users remain in control
with appropriate protocols and standards. One
during idle mode. This is very important.
such standard is IEC 62443, for the secure development of industrial automation and control
Gartner has predicted that in future 75% of all
systems, including a thorough and systematic
industrial data will be processed at the edge.
set of cybersecurity
recommendations.
The 3GPP telecom
security standards
were developed by
the 3rd Generation
Partnership Project with the initial
goal of developing
globally applicablespecifications for3G mobile systems.

13How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency“Using a private network can be seen as having
a data center on an oil rig that enables processing data locally, at high speeds and withlow latency. It will be interesting to see further
advances and opportunities for this domain,”
Støldal said.

Devices and applications
Tampnet’s sensor and device catalog program
includes more than 150 different sensors targeting the oil & gas industry. The sensors may
support corrosion, vibration or valve monitoring.
It could be a connected service. The sensor
and device catalog documents many of thesolutions deployed and running on the Tampnet
infrastructure today.
Users like to put many different device versions on the network. Flexibility allows fullcontrol of data flows on reception, for storage
and analytics use. The solution is scalable interms of the number of devices installed on it.
“We continue to develop this ecosystem andare still in the early days,” Støldal said. “Anincreasing number of sensors are ATEX certified
and that number will continue to increase.”
ATEX certification ensures the safety of equipment intended for use in potentially explosive
atmospheres in the European Union. While manyrequirements for ATEX certification overlap
with NFPA vacuum design requirements often
relied upon during an OSHA inspection, the ATEX
directive isn’t relevant in the United States.

Application use cases
To wrap up his presentation, Støldal outlined several deployed application solutions supported by
the Tampnet technology, include the following:•R emote inspections, including with StreamSolutions, a platform of audio and video
streaming services, active in the North Sea.
•A
 utonomous inspections, involving robotics
designer Boston Dynamics and BP.
•D rone/emissions monitoring with Flylogix,
the unmanned aircraft developer, and in use

14How Private Networks are Accelerating
Oil & Gas Efficiency

by Maersk, the integrated logistics and supply chain services provider.
• Vibration monitoring, with technology from
SKF, the global supplier of bearings, seals
and lubricants and used by Total. Monitored
data is transmitted to an insurance company, for “insurance as a service capability,” ofwhich we’ll surely see more, Støldal said.
• Corrosion under insulation, using CorrosionRADAR technology for early corrosion
detection, and live with Total.
“We have many different solutions live as we
speak,” Støldal said. “We’re seeing more andmore users willing to try things that offer goodbusiness cases. We’re going to see more ofthese advanced use cases going forward.“
Proof of concepts currently being tested include
the following.

•C orrosion under insulation, with TRISENSE
from Trinity Touch, the provider of wireless IoT sensors; Indusenz, the provider ofreal-time sensors and data solutions; andCorrosionRADAR.
•V ibration monitoring with Nanoprecise, provider of predictive management solutions
combining AI, IoT and LTE.
•T
 ank monitoring with Suretank, an offshore
logistics provider for the oil & gas industry.
•A sset tracking with Envio, the energy equipment and solutions provider•M iniature multi-sensor with Extech Instruments, the supplier of handheld electronic
test equipment and measuring instruments,
and Disruptive Technologies, provider of
sensors and IoT infrastructure.

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