Essar Oil partners Sensia for digitalisation of oil, gas field operations

EOGEPL, India's leading pioneering unconventional hydrocarbon player, announced its collaboration with Sensia for digitalisation of oil and gas field operations to enhance operational efficiencies

Essar Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Ltd (EOGEPL), India's leading pioneering unconventional hydrocarbon player, on Thursday announced its collaboration with Sensia for the digitalisation of oil and gas field operations to enhance operational efficiencies.

"This strategic partnership aims to unify measurement systems, optimise decision-making and enable remote control of critical parameters across EOGEPL's wells, facilities and customer interface," it said in a statement.

EOGEPL, which produces gas from coal seams (called coal-bed methane), will deploy Sensia's Avalon digital platform interface.

"Sensia's Avalon platform offers a comprehensive interface that simplifies the capture, analysis and digitisation of well-related activities, facility-related activities and customer end operations," it said.

The platform enables real-time data acquisition of essential parameters, such as mechanical, electrical, gas and water flow, pressure, and power backup device data, among others. With remote access and control capabilities, EOGEPL gains the ability to monitor and adjust critical well and facility parameters, facilitating efficient operations and proactive decision-making.

Commenting on the development, Pankaj Kalra, CEO of EOGEPL, said, "This partnership represents a significant milestone in our digitalisation journey, as it enables us to unify our measurement systems, optimise decision-making and remotely control critical parameters across our operations.

"By leveraging advanced technologies, we are confident that we will achieve increased production, reduced operating costs and enhanced efficiency, reaffirming our commitment to sustainable and efficient energy production."

EOGEPL has already invested Rs 5,000 crore in exploration in the Raniganj CBM block in West Bengal in drilling 350 wells. The company is further looking at investing another Rs 2,000 crore for drilling 200 more wells in the next 18 to 24 months.

The company said it is employing the latest technology in the existing wells to ramp up production from 0.9 million standard cubic metres per day to 1.3 mmscmd.

Under the contractual partnership with Sensia, EOGEPL has made significant progress in the real-time monitoring of the existing wells (BU-1 scope) and is currently in the process of monitoring an additional 200 wells (BU-2 scope). The automation solution integrated into the work programme will contribute to the overall digitalisation efforts, enabling remote operations and improving efficiency for production expansion plans in BU-2.

EOGEPL is committed to embracing cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions to fuel the growth and sustainability of its operations. Recently, the company also announced its investment in Microbial eCBM technology to boost CBM production, which was in line with its commitment to invest in R&D and improve operations.

The partnership with Sensia marks a significant step toward achieving EOGEPL's vision of digital transformation and remote operations within the oil and gas sector.