“Oil & Gas sector is undergoing faster digital transformation”

Maintaining high reliability and resiliency for mission-critical operations whilst expanding the network and adding ever-increasing numbers of devices and applications remains a formidable challenge for the oil and gas sector. Expanding applications require a change in the way they operate their communication networks too, and no single communication technology fits the bill. Hitachi ABB Power Grids Senior Vice President of Grid Automation business – India Ahmad Khan in an interview with Soma Tah talks about the technologies driving automation and digitization in the sector. Excerpts:

- Soma Tah

Ahmad Khan Senior Vice President, Hitachi ABB Power Grids, Grid Automation business

Could you please tell us how a hybrid wireless architecture helps enhance the connectivity and data transfer issues for the oil and gas industries?

Oil and gas is a fast-paced vertical, moving toward rapid automation and digitalization. This shift means that there is an ever-growing need for connected devices. The use cases requiring connectivity have a large variety of requirements. Some are time-critical; others are bandwidth-intensive. With the industrial internet of things (IoT) revolution, there are those use cases that mandate the connection of hundreds, thousands, and sometimes millions of devices. As such, there is no single technology that is a perfect fit for all use cases and applications, both technologically and economically.