A Blockchain-Based IoT Framework for Oil Field Remote Monitoring and Control

Abstract

The oil and gas industry involves a high level of operational expenditure and often faces high risks of asset safety and operational failures. It has never been so important to monitor and control the oil field operations remotely in real-time to ensure safety and efficiency. The traditional monitoring and control systems for oil field operations are typically centralized, prone to failure, and lack efficiency. Blockchain technology mitigates the centralization problem by creating a decentralized, immutable and transparent control environment for automatic monitoring and control of industrial operations. In this study, we propose a blockchain-based IoT framework for real-time monitoring and control to increase oil field operation and asset efficiency and safety. We present the key components of the framework, including the system architecture, operation flows, algorithms, and smart contracts. As a proof-of-concept modeling, a smart contract is developed and validated on a blockchain test platform. A comparative analysis shows the advantages of using blockchain technology and smart contract to provide trustworthy and automatic monitoring and control for oil field operations.