Using an application created by WellAware, Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester compares the readout on the well and tank to the levels on the app Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. By attaching a sensor to the collection tanks, oil and water levels can be tracked and measured remotely. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle ) less
Using an application created by WellAware, Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester compares the readout on the well and tank to the levels on the app Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. By ... more
Photo: Houston Chronicle
Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester is reflected in her iPad as she uses an application created by WellAware to compare a readout on a storage tank to the information stored in the app Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. By attaching a sensor to the collection tanks, oil and water levels can be tracked and measured remotely. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle ) less
Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester is reflected in her iPad as she uses an application created by WellAware to compare a readout on a storage tank to the information stored in the app ... more
Photo: Houston Chronicle
WellAware chief product officer Dave Milam, left, uses the application to check data on one of Welder Exploration & Production, Inc.'s compressors Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. By attaching a sensor to the different components, the systems can be tracked and measured remotely. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle ) less
WellAware chief product officer Dave Milam, left, uses the application to check data on one of Welder Exploration & Production, Inc.'s compressors Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. By attaching a sensor to ... more
Photo: Houston Chronicle
A WellAware sensor sits on a telephone pole near a Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. compressor Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. The sensor monitors the oil systems and allows operators to view the operational data remotely. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle ) less
A WellAware sensor sits on a telephone pole near a Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. compressor Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. The sensor monitors the oil systems and allows operators to view the ... more
Photo: Houston Chronicle
Using an application created by WellAware, Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester checks a readout on a storage tank to the information stored in the app Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. By attaching a sensor to the collection tanks, oil and water levels can be tracked and measured remotely. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle ) less
Using an application created by WellAware, Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester checks a readout on a storage tank to the information stored in the app Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. By ... more
Photo: Houston Chronicle
Using an application created by WellAware, Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester compares the readout on the well and tank to the levels on the app Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. By attaching a sensor to the collection tanks, oil and water levels can be tracked and measured remotely. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle ) less
Using an application created by WellAware, Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester compares the readout on the well and tank to the levels on the app Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. By ... more
Photo: Houston Chronicle
Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester checks a paper log at one of their well sites Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. Before implementing WellAware sensors to track and record this data remotely, guars would have to check each well daily to make sure they were functioning. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle ) less
Welder Exploration & Production, Inc. guager Gaye Hester checks a paper log at one of their well sites Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Beeville. Before implementing WellAware sensors to track and record this data ... more
Photo: Houston Chronicle
A crew with GroundMetrics, a San Diego-based energy tech startup that uses electromagnetic sensors to take subsurface images, places the sensors in the field. The company has seen a swell of interest since oil prices collapsed. less
A crew with GroundMetrics, a San Diego-based energy tech startup that uses electromagnetic sensors to take subsurface images, places the sensors in the field. The company has seen a swell of interest since oil ... more
Photo: GroundMetrics
Baker Hughes employees monitor a customer's wells from the company's operations center in Claremore, Oklahoma. The Houston-based oil field services giant developed the round-the-clock monitoring system in an effort to help its customers bolster production. less
Baker Hughes employees monitor a customer's wells from the company's operations center in Claremore, Oklahoma. The Houston-based oil field services giant developed the round-the-clock monitoring system in an ... more
Photo: Baker Hughes
Baker Hughes employees monitor a customer's wells from the company's operations center in Claremore, Oklahoma. The Houston-based oil field services giant developed the round-the-clock monitoring system in an effort to help its customers bolster production. less
Baker Hughes employees monitor a customer's wells from the company's operations center in Claremore, Oklahoma. The Houston-based oil field services giant developed the round-the-clock monitoring system in an ... more
Photo: Baker Hughes
Oil and gas companies have been working for years on ways to swap out pencil and paper in the oil patch for sophisticated sensors and iPads, but the digital oil field initiative fell by the wayside during the recent shale boom when speed mattered more than efficiency.
That effort is now gaining renewed attention during the worst crude slump in decades as oil and gas firms scramble to squeeze more out of their smaller fleet of wells and workers.
