iNNOVATEQ (Innovation Technical Solutions LLC) has announced that it has begun offering an innovative digital oilfield (DOF) platform called ‘Nibras’ to oil and gas companies in and outside Oman.

The system employs exception-based surveillance (EBS) to automatically detect deviations in asset performance from optimal conditions, and flag them up to the right users, at the right time in the right way.

Designed to optimise operations and maintenance of oil and gas assets, ‘Nibras’ was developed in-house by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and until now, was only used by Oman’s major oil and gas operator. iNNOVATEQ, a new Omani technology company, will commercialise and  enhance the Nibras platform with the backing of Oman National Investments Development Company (TANMIA) and Innovation Development Oman (IDO Investments).

The announcement was made at the COMEX Technology Show 2019 held under the auspices of Sayyid Kamil bin Fahad Al Said, Assistant Secretary-General of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers.

PDO Managing Director Raoul Restucci said,“Nibras has been a core enabler in PDO providing incredible value by enhancing staff efficiency, compliance and data quality. We are pleased with the move to unleash the potential of this tool and are happy to support a successful Omani company which is at the forefront of technical development in our industry.”

iNNOVATEQ Chief Executive Officer Dr Riyadh Moosa and Chief Technical Officer Wim Servaes, both former PDO employees, contributed significantly to the development of the tool. Dr Moosa said: “Nibras has been specifically designed to facilitate the management of assets more efficiently by providing historical and real-time data of the assets. This allows our customers to monitor the performance of their oil and gas assets, including the status and functionality of wells, reservoirs and surface facilities; presenting its findings through intuitive dashboards.”

He added: “In doing so, the platform allows for easy identification of operational issues, opportunities for production increase, as well as, significant savings both in terms of cost and time, freeing up staff to focus on more value adding tasks.”

The system provides the user with automated workflows guided by expert advice to ensure that assets are brought back to optimal operating conditions in a fraction of the time it used to take before Nibras. iNNOVATEQ is also working on developing mobile applications to ensure field staff have access to the tool. The number of Nibras users has been increasing at a rate of 250 users per year, reaching 1,800 today. iNNOVATEQ is currently in talks with several local and international oil and gas companies and, with the doors now open to customers across the globe, they expect this number to increase significantly in the coming years.

Commenting on their ongoing support of the initiative, Talal Hasan, Senior Investment Manager at IDO Investments said, “Nibras is a truly unique package within the oil and gas industry; one that has attracted the attention of other companies around the world operating in this field. We see great potential for growth in this initiative and we are both proud and honoured to be in a position to support its further development. Nibras is an ever-evolving platform. Work is currently underway on the fourth generation of the platform featuring significant technology upgrades, superior functionality and enhanced user experience. The future for Nibras is as limitless as it is exciting and we are glad to see it developed right here in Oman,” concluded Mohamed Anwar Al Lawati, Senior Business Development Manager at TANMIA and Chairman of iNNOVATEQ.