Oil & Gas
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Oil & Gas Objectives
The primary business objectives or drivers for deploying a private wireless network in oil & gas organizations are largely focused on network reliability, operational KPIs, and safety.
The most common objective (for 59% of oil & gas respondents) is “enhanced network reliability and performance", followed by “enhanced product / service quality” and “increased process / production line productivity” (each prioritized by 44% of oil & gas organizations). Among those respondents seeking the latter, 91% have already achieved improvements of more than 10% (including 73% achieving improvements of more than 20%). “Enhanced network reliability and performance” was cited by 56% as the “greatest benefit so far”.
Oil & gas organizations prioritized three different safety metrics as part of their primary objectives for private wireless. For example, 38% were prioritizing “safer operations via real-time personnel tracking and exposure monitoring”; 21% had the objective of achieving “safer autonomous/remote equipment operation”; and 24% had the general objective of “improved worker safety. Among those looking to private wireless, in part, for “safer operations via real-time personnel tracking and exposure monitoring”, 100% achieved improvements of more than 10% (with half of those achieving improvements of more than 20%).
Top 10 primary business objectives for deploying private wireless
Enhanced network reliability and performance
Enhanced product / service quality
Increased process / production line productivity
Enable / improve mission-critical communications
Reduced unplanned production downtime
Improved cybersecurity
Safer operations via real-time personnel tracking and exposure monitoring
Increased employee satisfaction
Improved worker safety
Safer autonomous / remote equipment operation
"We run remote, safety‑critical operations, so when connectivity is delayed or unreliable, it directly increases exposure and slows decisions — moving from satellite waits of 15–20 minutes (sometimes 12–24 hours) to near‑instant, secure communications has improved safety outcomes and reduced downtime.”
Qualitative Insights
In interviews, oil and gas leaders prioritized private wireless for reliability, low latency, and secure segmentation. These needs were tied to key operations — offshore, midstream, and refining — where connectivity directly affects safety tools, real-time monitoring/control, maintenance response, and compliance reporting.
Quantitative Insights
Top 10 desired benefits achieved
When asked in which areas they have achieved measurable benefits after deploying private wireless, 100% of oil & gas organizations cited at least one.
When comparing desired benefits (as chosen by respondents as objectives / drivers for deploying private wireless), against measurable benefits achieved, the survey shows that measurable benefits from “improved worker safety” was achieved by 88% or organizations that prioritized it, while “increased process / production line productivity” was achieved by 87% of organizations that prioritized it.
Other areas in which desired benefits were measurably achieved by more than 80% of oil & gas organizations that prioritized them include “improved real-time data for decision-making”, “improved cybersecurity”, and “safer operations via real-time personnel tracking and exposure monitoring”.
Improved worker safety
Increased process / production line productivity
Improved real-time data for better decision-making
Improved cybersecurity
Safer operations via real-time personnel tracking and exposure monitoring
Operational efficiencies (e.g. automating complex tasks)
Energy savings
Increased employee satisfaction
Enable / improve mission-critical communications
Enhanced network reliability and performance
Top 5 unexpected benefits
Oil & gas organizations also achieved benefits in areas which they did not expect. This chart reflects the percentage of organizations that did NOT select each benefit as an objective / driver for private wireless which achieved that benefit, nonetheless.
For example, 64% were surprised by the “enhanced network reliability and performance” resulting from their deployment of private wireless, because it was not one of their stated objectives. Similarly, “operational efficiencies (e.g., automating complex tasks)” and “improved real-time data for decision-making” were unexpected benefits for 52% of organizations which had not initially prioritized them.
Enhanced network reliability and performance
Improved real-time data for better decision-making
Enable / improve mission-critical communications
Operational efficiencies (e.g. automating complex tasks)
Safer operations via real-time personnel tracking and exposure monitoring
Total benefits expected
Respondents were also asked about the extent of improvement they expect to achieve from each benefit resulting from their private wireless deployment. This includes the level of improvement achieved so far, combined with further benefits expected, ranging from 1 to 5% total benefit improvement at the low end, to more than 30% at the high end.
While “enhanced network reliability and performance”, "improved cybersecurity" and “safer operations via real-time personnel tracking and exposure monitoring” are expected to provide benefits to more oil & gas organizations than any other benefit, all of the desired benefits expected are expected to achieve a 30% or greater improvements by a significant portion of those achieving it, based on results so far.
Note: the list of benefits is ranked by the number of respondents achieving each measurable benefit.
“Today our private wireless network is carrying the warehouse ‘basics’ — handheld scanners and terminals for picking and inventory — along with security systems like CCTV and access control, and we’re expanding into more automation such as drones and other robotics as the sites digitize.”
Oil & Gas Use Cases: Deployed & Planned
Among oil & gas organizations that have deployed private wireless, “IoT sensors (for equipment and environment monitoring” is the use case most commonly deployed already (71%). “Cameras for security / worker safety purposes” is among the top two use cases planned for deployment within two years (56%), while “edge compute” is next, with 53% of oil & gas organizations with private wireless networks planning to deploy them within that time period.
For use cases either deployed already or planned for deployment within two years, 97% cited “cameras for security / worker safety purposes”.
