Paper: THE USE OF INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY IN THE OIL AND GAS FIELD

Historically, gas recovery was not considered a profitable proposition for producers in the Permian Basin. Today's commodity gas pricing makes it a viable revenue generator with a 10:1 recovery payback. Safety and environmental incident prevention, lost profit potential, responsibility to shareholders, and the economics and feasibility of thermal imaging create a convincing case for investing in infrared thermography. Pioneer Natural Resources operates 5600 producing wells and 1617 tank storage batteries, with more than 2,000 miles of flow and transmission line in the Permian asset. In 2007 the company invested in a gas leak detection camera and a thermographer. The economics, safety and environmental benefits proved so compelling that a second camera and thermographer were added in 2008.