Hiber brings satellite-enabled well-monitoring technology to Middle East.

Amsterdam, the Netherlands – 15 November 2021 | Hiber, the satellite-enabled IoT scale-up, is rolling out its HiberHilo remote well-integrity monitoring technology in the Middle East to help the region’s oil and gas producers monitor their remote wells via satellite connectivity. The technology significantly improves the safety and sustainability of remote oil and gas wells, while the digitization of remote well data reduces costs and makes well monitoring real time and automated.

A comprehensive IoT-as-a-service solution for the oil and gas industry developed by Hiber in a joint venture with WTS Energy, HiberHilo is available now in Abu Dhabi, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar and will shortly be rolled out across the rest of the Middle East.

With remote oil and gas wells notoriously difficult to monitor and 33% of wells encountering integrity issues at some point in their life, HiberHilo makes monitoring wells in the least-connected parts of the world safer, cheaper, and easier—and crucially helps to reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas operations.

By connecting sensors on wellheads via a wireless, solar-powered gateway to satellites, and then on to an API or secure online dashboard, HiberHilo enables real-time monitoring of well temperature and pressure on unconnected wells in remote and offshore locations. Multiple wellheads with sensors can be connected to the same gateway within a 10km radius. The sensors relay readings every hour to give a 24/7 view of the integrity of any well, so issues such as a leak or temperature or pressure build-up can be immediately identified and quickly rectified.

Remote well monitoring allows oil and gas companies to ensure well integrity and that their wells are safe. If integrity issues start to appear, operators can take immediate action to prevent spills, blowouts and other major problems. It also helps to determine the right plug and abandonment strategy, and ensures effective monitoring after decommissioning.

HiberHilo connectivity also eliminates the risks to crews inherent in well-monitoring trips to hard-to-reach places and reduces the cost of these visits.

“Oil and gas operators know that well integrity monitoring can be both difficult and dangerous, and poses many other logistical challenges,” said Roel Jansen, Hiber’s CEO. “Yet 90 percent of wells are still monitored manually, posing a threat to engineers and the environment. As the industry manages its transition to renewable energy, responsible operators are focused on ensuring the extraction of fossil fuels has minimal environmental impact. Adopting new technology such as HiberHilo for remote integrity monitoring is going to be key to doing this by keeping existing wells environmentally safe.”