American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2021 - 53

SpecialReport: Devon Energy
automation and remote monitoring systems,
Lowe says production is still the
operating domain with the biggest upside
for digital solutions.
" Honestly, production is where I am
most excited about the application of
technology. We are seeing huge improvements
by continuing to modernize field
operations, " he says. " Even with all the
automation we have done over the years,
we are making huge leaps using technology
in the production space. It is flattening
the decline curve, lowering lease operating
expenses (LOE), and reducing our environmental
footprint. "
Devon was an early adopter of remote
surveillance of its well sites and tank
batteries using high-definition video and
infrared imaging cameras. It has now
adopted remote surveillance as a standard
operating practice throughout its operating
areas and integrated video imagery with
a machine learning algorithm and automated
controls to monitor production operations
and emissions on a 24/7 basis.
" Video data is layered into all the automation
and sensor data that streams in
from the well site, " he explains. " it is not
just imagery; it is a rich new dataset that
is organized and integrated with other
types of data for analysis. "
The surveillance initiative began in
the Powder River Basin, where well sites
are remote and isolated enough to justify
the ability to have a real-time camera
view of every location. " Since then, we
started using AI to teach a computer to
watch and analyze the imagery, " Lowe
continues. " The computer always knows
that state of the flare on a site, for example,
and constantly looks for any type of
anomaly on location and alerts a foreman
when an action is needed. "
The company is deploying both infrared
imaging and high-resolution RGB video
cameras with pan, tilt and zoom functions.
Although the cameras are " pretty highend, "
Lowe says the cost of the technology
has come down so much that Devon can
apply video and infrared cameras at scale
and still achieve significant LOE, operational,
and environmental benefits.
" This is a cutting-edge approach, " he
emphasizes. " We do not know of any
commercial models nor any another companies
doing anything like this on the
scope we are today. "
High-resolution video is obviously a
very different type of data source than
what oil and gas companies are accustomed
to dealing with. How can video
be monitored, analyzed and integrated
with the other types of data collected on
a producing well?
" This is one of the benefits of cloud
computing, IoT and AI, " Lowe responds.
" These technologies have opened this
space up. IoT creates the opportunity to
convert rich video into data. Once the
state of equipment has been converted
from a video image to a data point, it can
be rolled into the datasets along with
SCADA and other sensor data. It basically
looks and feels very similar, and it can
be streamed in the same way. "
Around-the-clock video surveillance
allows well operators to visually visit sites
at any time they need to check the status
of a well or piece of equipment without
having to physically travel to location.
" Instead of making a three-hour drive,
the operator can bring up the camera and
with the level of zoom available, can
check out everything from very small
nuts and bolts on a pump all the way up
to the big picture of what is happening
on a well site. We have seen a tremendous
reduction in the amount of miles driven
across our operations, " Lowe comments.
" Reducing traffic is obviously an ESG
benefit, but fewer highway miles also
means increased safety for our people. "
Driving Positive Change
Lowe suggests that the enterpriselevel
digital solutions Devon now has in
place will continue to generate economic,
operational, ESG and safety dividends
for decades to come. Looking at how far
Devon has come with digital technology
during the past decade, he says it is nearly
impossible to fathom the kinds of capabilities
it may unleash in another 10
years' time.
" I think sensors will be on almost
everything, with data streamed into a
cloud environment, where it will all be
accessible in real time so people can
create and learn from it. I also see an
open environment between Devon and
vendors, where we share data in new
ways. But I cannot begin to predict what
innovations will come out of the digital
platform, " he says. " The only thing I
know for sure is that we will have a lot
of smart people figuring out new ways to
use information to drive innovation and
positive change across all areas of our
business. "
What its business may look like a
decade down the road is anyone's guess.
Ten years-let alone 50-is a long time in
a volatile industry where change is practically
the only constant. However, Lowe
ventures to guess that an energy transition
of some sort will begin to take root during
the next decade.
" I do not know where exactly Devon
will be 10 years from now, but I am excited
about the potential to play a role
in energy markets adjacent to oil and
gas. The skills and tools Devon has developed
in advancing digital solutions
are applicable to geothermal, carbon
capture, solar and other areas. Our digital
experience, and the corporate culture
we have built to innovate based on data,
will serve us well no matter what the
future holds. "
❒
Devon has been a pioneer in using high-definition video and infrared imaging cameras as a
standard operating practice for remote surveillance of well pads, tank batteries and other
sites. Integrating video imagery with a machine learning algorithm and automated controls is
allowing it to optimize the management of production operations and emissions on a 24/7
basis, driving significant LOE, operational and environmental benefits.
JULY 2021 53

American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2021

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