Risk factors in oil and gas well electronics compared to other electronic industries

Abstract

The oil and gas well electronics industry is a low volume industry in which the development and the operating life cycles of the electronic products used is considerably longer than those of the commonly available commercial parts used to build them. Oil and gas well electronic systems, especially the ones that are used for permanent monitoring of oil wells are required to function reliably at all times through-out the entire life of an oilwell. This gives rise to special requirements for the electronics used in this industry. Guaranteed reliability under high stress operating requirements over longer life cycle profiles necessitates the use of special design, qualification and testing techniques and quality controls. All these factors create considerable risks for the suppliers and manufacturers of oil and gas well electronics. This paper presents a study of the factors that lead to risks, which manufacturers and suppliers of oil and gas well electronics must address while developing products for use in the well completion and continuous monitoring operations. A comparison with other low-volume electronic industries is provided. Copyright © 2005, Institut français du pétrole.