Background
A Fortune 1000 exploration and production company based in Texas engages in the acquisition, development and exploration of oil and natural gas properties throughout Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. As a Top 3 producer of oil and natural gas in both Texas and New Mexico, the company operates nearly 6,000 wells on more than 1 million acres.
Challenges
The scale of operations creates real and pressing access control issues with thousands of employees, contractors and landowners moving in and around remote areas. Managing the movement of these people is critical to maintaining operational integrity, furthering the safety of personnel on site and securing millions of dollars in high-value assets and product. At a remote West Texas lease near the Texas-New Mexico border, 30 miles from the nearest population center, theft, vandalism, illegal dumping, stranded or lost personnel, drug and human trafficking and contractor billing fraud are all concerns.
Solution
Following a project discovery, design and proposal process, the company selected Twenty20 Solutions to implement video surveillance and access control solutions at the lease. At the time, access to the entire property consisted of a simple dirt road over a cattle guard, bracketed on either side by a barbed wire fence. There was no existing gate to prevent the free flow of people and vehicles through this gap in the fence. Twenty20 deployed its GateWatch™ solution, an automated, pulley-driven gate, to provide access control in this remote location. Relying on a pre-deployment telemetry survey, Twenty20 engineers custom-designed and built this location’s communication package to include directional antenna arrays to reliably and effectively communicate with cell towers many miles away.
Today, the access gate manages the flow of 35,000 vehicles per year.
Additionally, Twenty20 deployed a SiteWatch™ remote video surveillance package to monitor traffic through the gate as well as the status of the gate itself. Built to be self-sufficient, the SiteWatch™ unit was deployed with solar power and a purpose-built battery backup system.
Benefits & Values
Robust Access Control to Site New access gate manages the flow of more than 35,000 vehicles per year and captures each crossing via video surveillance. | Real-Time Access to Data Analytics Customer can audit the activity to and from site remotely from any device and can pull access reports directly from the system. | Reduce Liability for Damages Video surveillance captures damage to the gate, allowing customer to offset liability by charging the responsible parties. |
Conclusion
Today, the access gate manages the flow of 35,000 vehicles per year. Each crossing is captured by the gate controller logs and video surveillance records from the SiteWatch™ camera system covering the gate. Using any web-enabled device, anywhere on earth, the customer monitors and audits the comings and goings of employees, contractors, landowners and visitors. Having implemented HD camera equipment from cutting-edge providers, we can integrate additional solutions as required. Upgrades may include License Plate Reading (LPR) software, automated motion event monitoring, custom analytics, and reporting. Video surveillance at the gate not only allows this E&P powerhouse to monitor traffic, but also provides a maintenance “check-in” for the gate itself, which can become damaged by vehicle traffic, adverse weather, or wildlife. In fact, video captured by the Twenty20 camera system has recorded numerous negligent vehicle impacts to the gate. This evidence has offset the liability and costs for any equipment damage or injury to personnel.