LoRaWAN® is a cost-effective and quickly deployed specification for wireless Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWAN) that enables the transition to Industry 4.0 by connecting remote sensors and devices allowing data to be captured and analyzed for industrial markets. Some segments taking advantage of the technology include agriculture, cities, buildings, utilities and manufacturing. In this white paper our focus will be on LoRaWAN applica- tions and deployments within the Oil & Gas (O&G) sector. We’ll address the LoRaWAN protocol, which provides multiple advantages to enable applications that empower O&G businesses to improve operations with reduced operational costs; improved worker safety, and environmental and social governance in order to remain relevant and profitable in a quickly digitizing world. It does so by allowing energy companies to capture and digitize the vast amount of data from assets that are part of its operations and allowing machine learning to generate numerous energy related use cases.

Players in the O&G sector around the world who are driving the long-term implications for O&G cost efficiency through digitization present examples of LoRaWAN deployments that have proven to be successful for day-to-day operations. They are Actility, Aloxy, Chevron, Lansitec, MultiTech, Orbiwise, Pepperl+Fuchs, TEKTELIC, Webee, and Yokogawa, and are all members of the LoRa Alliance®.

Finally, from a technical standpoint, the specific requirements that are imposed upon O&G firms due to the often hazardous areas they operate in, are explained through various levels of equipment certification following guide- lines in different regions of the world.