Protecting important field data in the oilpatch is evolving into the digital age, and energy companies need to focus on new threats posed by high-tech electronic exposure as well as more traditional security concerns, says the head of a Calgary-based information security firm.

While some Alberta energy companies may cite terrorism, mergers and acquisitions, and even forthcoming privacy legislation among their top domestic and international security concerns, others are increasingly aware of potential breaches that could compromise top-secret field data – at home and aboard.

Information that used to reside within a mainframe’s domain is getting pushed out to laptops around the globe “but (security) technology is lagging behind,” said John Krpan, CEO of RightsMarket.

John Krpan

“Just now, people are starting to see the gap – it’s not in their mainframe or at their head office, it’s in their field operations.”

In the old days, field information might consist of well records on paper, with competitive intelligence gathered by “people sitting in trees with binoculars, counting pipe going into the ground,” Krpan said.

“I don’t know how much of that still goes on, but now, (security concerns) are definitely shifting more towards errant e-mails and electronic records,” Krpan added.

Krpan was one of several speakers at a day-long conference last week in Calgary on how e-business technology is helping increase profitability in the upstream oil and gas industry.

The conference, hosted by Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC), attracted about 90 people from the technology, telecommunications and oilpatch upstream and service sectors, and was co-sponsored by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), Alberta Innovation and Science, Calgary Technologies Inc. and Wireless City.

RightsMarket, which counts Murphy Oil among its clients, has developed what it calls a “persistent security solution,” which protects electronic information even after it has been delivered to head office or an employee in the field.

As an example, Krpan said an e-mail sent to an energy company from a remote site can be encrypted and transmitted through a private network into a secure building – but nothing protects it from alterations, or even outright theft, after it has been opened.

“If your tool-pusher on the rig tries to sell it, he won’t be able to. If he loses his laptop, no one will be able to regain the information,” he added. “We’re at the very forefront of that technical solution.”

The conference also heard details about how Northrock Resources, a mid-sized oil and gas producer based in Calgary, was adopting new technology to increase profits and better manage its assets.

Marlon McDougall, North- rock’s area manager for west-central Alberta, said that the company significantly changed its operating strategy with the introduction of a real-time remote well-flow monitoring system called Smart-Alek.

The flagship product of Calgary-based zed.i solutions, the technology has helped Northrock move beyond 100-year-old, manpower-intensive wellsite monitoring techniques.

“Spending time behind a windshield was just not an efficient method (of wellsite monitoring) at all,” McDougall noted wryly.

“Like many of you, I’ve lived through the era of SCADA (a software package designed to monitor and display information, log data and show alarms) and you spend a lot of time just feeding the beast, and not really getting anything out of it.”

New technology is reshaping the way companies like his operate in the field, said McDougall, leading to more efficient work practices.

But technology by itself isn’t the solution, as energy companies also have to have the vision of how they can implement it to its maximum potential, he added.

PTAC president Eric Lloyd said the annual conference is an opportunity to showcase new innovations and products in the oilpatch in the wireless, telecommunications and e-business sectors.

“We couldn’t get a lot of good case studies a few years ago, but now there’s quite a few” to demonstrate, he said in an interview.

Lloyd said the major hurdle facing energy companies in adopting new technology or innovations is what he calls “receptor capacity.”

“Companies have to have people who are responsible for learning all this new stuff that’s coming on so quickly, and figuring out the potential benefit and getting it applied. That takes a bunch of time and effort,” he said.

“I think the oilpatch is actually quite progressive about adopting things,” Lloyd added.

“It just depends on the company. Some will move ahead quickly and others will wait to see if their peers go through any pain, and they’ll pick it up later. It really depends on how big the opportunities are for the company and how they’re perceived.”