Visions of the digital oil field are swirling in management’s head. The goal? Everything is automated — every reading, every valve, and every device tied to IIoT. The mantra? “We’ll manage our operations by exceptions,” your managers say. Computer systems will analyze the data and send workers out to the field only when needed, using routes that minimize windshield time.

But, for many field operators and technicians, this has created a significant burden trying to keep up with a different software tool tied to each hat they wear. Instead of making things easier and more efficient, your daily work has become more burdensome and time-consuming. You need access to a modern oil and gas field operations platform to enhance, not inhibit your daily work.

How Many Hats Are You Wearing For Field Operations?

Whether your job title is lease operator, pumper, or field technician, you undoubtedly wear many hats during the course of the day.

• You put on your pumper hardhat to record production data.
• You switch to your safety hardhat for compliance documentation.
• You transition to the environmental hardhat for emissions and spill reporting.
• You may even put on a measurement hardhat to witness meter testing or truck loading.
• Finally, you put on your manager ball cap while you sit in the truck and schedule service companies.

While you do not literally change hats as you perform different duties, all too often field personnel are forced to switch between software tools and log-in credentials multiple times during a single site visit.

We recognize that it’s cumbersome to be at the same location entering the same lease data, time\date, and similar information into each different system before you can get down to the real job at hand. There should be a better way. In fact, there is. It’s the Muddy Boots all-in-one field operations platform.

This better breed of field operations software will streamline your company’s use of software to perform critical measurement and operations tasks. One platform. One log-in. One piece of software to support the many hats you wear. One easy-to-use platform with mobile offline data entry capabilities that can work with no cellular data service at rural or remote well sites.

What About The Digital Oil Field?

Everyone likes new, high-volume, fully-instrumented wells in the digital oil field. But, with approximately 1.0 million producing oil and gas wells in the U.S., there is still a significant percentage of older, low-volume wells, with limited instrumentation.

By our count, there are still hundreds of thousands of low-to-medium production wells that do not justify the installation of full instrumentation, telemetry, and automation, yet these wells remain economically feasible to continue using for production. They still need to be managed; you just need the right software platform to achieve efficiencies.

To maximize production and ensure safe operations of these older wells, companies still need to put workers out at the site on a routine basis. We know it’s much different than how it used to be.

Back when older wells went into service, the job was pretty simple. Crank the engine if it’s down, gauge the production tank(s), work off the water, and lube things once a week. The data collection was equally simple. Was it up or down when you got there? How much product was in the tank? How much water?

If there was gas production, you recorded the pressure and looked at the chart, producing three to six handwritten entries each day on a single form. You turned in the weekly form when you collected your paycheck on Friday.

The well hasn’t changed, but the job has. Today, the demands for data that can be turned into information have grown exponentially, even for these old, low-production wells:

• We will still record the daily production data, but there are a lot more values to report.
• Every site visit counts as a visual safety and environmental inspection, but only if it’s recorded properly.
• Engine run hours must be reported for fuel and exhaust gas estimation.
• Flared volumes must be reported.
• Compressor blowdowns and cranks must be reported.
• Seal numbers must be logged for truck loading,
• Meter testing\proving must be witnessed.
• Spills must be reported, and remediation work orders created.

More responsibilities. More data to enter into your software. More documentation and recordkeeping. If you’re using multiple pieces of software, this can become quite time-consuming and inefficient. That’s why we recommend transitioning to the Muddy Boots field operations platform to achieve efficiencies.

Contact Us to Learn More About Muddy Boots

Our goal is to help you do your job safely and efficiently, complete your tasks in the field, and get home for dinner. It’s time to have only one software log-in to support the multiple hats you wear in the field — whether you are working newer, high-production wells or older, low-volume wells.

Recommend a demo of Muddy Boots to your supervisor today. Let’s talk about how our platform can increase your efficiency by combining operations, maintenance schedules, work orders, compliance, and environment reporting in a single tool — with a single sign-on!

– Let your supervisor know you want to use the Muddy Boots, All-in-One Field Operations Platform. Contact GCI today to find support with setting up an educational demonstration of the software platform.