Use Case · Oil & Gas

One backbone upgrade. A new class of capabilities.
Zero rip-and-replace.

Modernize a 1990s-era SDH transmission network to a converged 100G OTN/DWDM backbone — while your SCADA, DCS, telephony and field automation keep running exactly as they do today. The network becomes the enabler for AI production optimization, life-safety systems and pipeline security, added incrementally as budget allows.

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The principle

Upgrade the network. Keep everything that works.

Most oil & gas operators run transmission backbones installed in the late 1990s: STM-1, STM-4 and 2.5G SDH rings carrying voice, serial data and SCADA across hundreds of kilometres of pipeline. These networks are reliable — but at 155 Mb/s they cannot carry the continuous, high-frequency sensor data that modern AI and safety applications feed on. And a forklift replacement is unthinkable: decades of operational practice, interlocks and procedures depend on the services they carry.

The answer is a converged single-platform migration: SDH, OTN and DWDM on one chassis. Legacy interfaces stay live on the same box that delivers 100G today and is 400G-ready — so migration is an addition, never an interruption.

Stays in service — unchanged

  • SCADA over LAN and RS-232 serial links
  • FXS/FXO voice and operational telephony
  • E1 and Ethernet-over-E1 exchange interconnects
  • Fire alarm, siren and CCTV circuits
  • Existing DCS, PLCs and field automation logic
  • Your operators' 20+ years of procedures

Newly unlocked — added as an overlay

  • 100G–400G capacity with ~47 wavelengths in reserve
  • Dual-ring, no-single-point-of-failure protection
  • Deterministic low-latency transport for control traffic
  • AI production optimization data streams
  • Networked H2S emergency response
  • Fiber-based pipeline intrusion detection
Design philosophy: pay-as-you-grow. Day-one site spacing of ~120 km keeps initial civil and hardware cost down; small solar-powered amplifier sites are added later to multiply fiber capacity — reusing 100% of the installed hardware. Ultra-long unregenerated spans of 250–280 km are field-proven; sub-50 ms ring protection guarantees an alarm from a remote desert site is never lost to a single fiber cut or node failure.
What the new backbone unlocks

Production-increasing and life-saving applications — on top of your existing automation

Every application below runs as a digital overlay above installed SCADA/DCS systems. None requires replacing the automation you already trust. All of them require the one thing legacy SDH cannot provide: a high-bandwidth, protected, low-latency data highway between the field and the control center.

AI · Production

Autonomous well & choke optimization

Edge AI continuously adjusts well setpoints as reservoir conditions change — increasing production from existing wells without new drilling, and cutting manual field interventions on gas wells.

AI · Production

Gas-lift optimization

Machine-learning models allocate lift gas across wells in real time, maximizing total field output from the same compression capacity you already own.

AI · Integrity

Chemical injection & corrosion management

Autonomous chemical-injection control keeps corrosion and scale treatment continuously on target — preventing well failures and unplanned shutdowns while reducing chemical cost and field visits.

AI · Reliability

Predictive maintenance of rotating equipment

Sensor analytics forecast compressor, pump and ESP failures weeks in advance — converting emergency shutdowns into planned interventions. Water-injection surveillance predicts pump failures before they curtail oil production.

AI · Flow

Flow assurance & pipeline hydraulics

Real-time hydraulic models detect blockage, leak and slugging conditions along gas pipelines, with continuous emissions and flare monitoring supporting regulatory reporting and gas-recovery revenue.

Safety · H2S

Networked H2S emergency response

Fixed and wearable detectors at wellheads, separators and block-valve stations feed the control center in real time — with CCTV verification, automated ventilation/shutdown/siren sequences, wind-aware evacuation guidance and muster-point headcount. Seconds matter with H2S; the dual-ring network guarantees the alarm always arrives.

Security · Pipeline

Third-party intrusion detection over existing fiber

Distributed fiber sensing turns the cable already buried beside the pipeline into a continuous vibration sensor. AI classification distinguishes digging, mechanical works and vehicle movement — up to ~60 km per sensing unit — and GIS correlation converts fiber distance into a map position for response teams.

Infrastructure

Hybrid power for desert sites

Solar PV + grid + battery + generator with automatic switchover and mobile-app monitoring makes remote block-valve stations viable node and repeater sites — solving the AC-only, no-backup power reality of desert routes.

Industry precedent: leading national operators in the region have instrumented single fields with tens of thousands of sensors and documented double-digit production increases, doubled troubleshooting speed and lower operating cost — treating the communications network as core production infrastructure, not a support cost. A backbone modernization puts your operation on the same foundation.
Frequently asked questions

Straight answers for network and operations teams

Do we have to replace our SCADA, DCS or field automation?
No. The converged platform carries your legacy SDH services — FXS/FXO, RS-232, E1, Ethernet-over-E1, SCADA LAN — on the same chassis as the new 100G OTN/DWDM layer. New applications sit above your installed systems as an overlay.
What about our very long spans with no power in between?
Single unregenerated spans of 250–280 km are field-proven, with 320 km demonstrated in the lab. Where repeaters are the better economic answer, small solar-powered amplifier sites with ~8-hour battery autonomy are placed at existing block-valve stations — and every repeater added later multiplies fiber capacity while reusing all installed hardware.
What happens if a fiber is cut or a node loses power?
The dual-ring architecture provides independent protection per ring against fiber cuts, amplifier failure and node power failure, with no single point of failure in the chassis (redundant fans, power and cross-connect). One ring can even be upgraded while the other carries live traffic.
How long will the platform be supported?
Design for a 15+ year horizon: long product lifespans, multi-year post-production support, MTBF-based spares planning, and a live roadmap including 400G, extended optical spectrum and quantum-key encryption.
How do we get started?
With a workshop. We map your current network, fiber plant, sites and power situation, and produce a phased modernization path — each phase tied to the applications it unlocks.
For Oil & Gas operators

Plan a network modernization workshop

Bring your network diagrams, fiber records and toughest sites. In one working session we map what you have, what stays, and what a phased upgrade unlocks — from AI production optimization to H2S life-safety and pipeline security.

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