Is our Oil Production Too Reliant on Big Data? Are “Digital Oil Fields” Vulnerable in a Big Way?
The ‘digital oil field” is growing dramatically. In 2011 the market was about 18.7 billion. By 2014 it had grown to 24.6 billion dollars and at this rate of growth it is projected to be at 33 billion by 2022.
There are myriad benefits to the digital oil fields. Speed, efficiency and lower cost are but a few. Today, control rooms, devices used to manage the production plants, refineries, pipelines and even oil producing substations as well as the wells themselves are digital. They are using high speed data links, video technology and even digitally managed drilling rigs to bring us the energy that we need.
Still further upstream, we’re seeing drilling resources, computer assisted well fracturing and preventive maintenance seen on the wells. Each of these areas has the capacity to be hacked or breached in some way and untold damage done to our energy supply as well as many other things.
According to the Journal of Petroleum Technology, the offshore oil fields can create more than ¾ of a terabyte of data every single day. Oil fields and reserves are becoming much more rare. Companies are literally scrambling in order to keep ahead of their competition.
IHS CERA says that digital oilfield implementation means that companies may achieve more than 25 percent savings in the cost of operation using digital technology and they may see about 8-10 percent higher production. As oil fields become much rarer, the production boost will make the difference between having enough energy and an energy shortage.
The National Grid and the utilities that we depend on every day are dependent on computers. It’s a given that anything that is reliant upon computers can be vulnerable to very significant threats from hackers and other nefarious creatures.
The oil and gas companies around the world are increasingly dependent on computers and that means they are a big target. The oil and gas fields today are so reliant that it’s become a source of great concern for regulatory bodies as well as those who rely heavily on the production.
Multiple attacks against oil and gas have already taken place.In July of 2014, A Russian hacker group targeted energy companies with Energetic Bear Virus. Physical systems were disabled and energy consumption monitoring took place.
Other attacks include DDoS attacks and even ransomware. ABI Research did a study that predicted that by 2018, just a year from now that attacks against the oil and gas sector will drive nearly 2 billion dollars in security spending.
What other kinds of attacks could take place using the oil and gas sector? How can we halt this and what will it take to prevent problems from taking place. It is imperative that gas and oil develop the capacity to protect against cyber attacks and to prevent major risks?
Do you believe legislating cybersecurity -forcing companies to secure their devices is the right answer or or is there a better way to accomplish that?
