ABB announced on 3 July that it has agreed to acquire the mission-critical communication business of the KEYMILE Group to strengthen its communication networks portfolio

The industrial automation market for oil and gas is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.2 per cent between 2017 and 2023, according to a recent report from MarketsandMarkets

The industrial automation market for oil and gas is expected to reach US$15.52bn by 2023, according to the report, entitled Industrial Automation Market for Oil & Gas - Global Forecast to 2023.

Key driving factors are the need for optimum and effective exploration of ageing reservoirs, and the Internet of Things adding value to the industrial automation for the oil and gas industry. However, the instability of the oil and gas market in Middle Eastern countries, the increasing shift toward the adoption of renewable energy sources, and declining and fluctuating oil and gas prices are considered to be major restraints.

Distributed control system (DCS) is expected to hold a major share of the market by 2023. The distributed control system controls various components that are distributed in the overall system of industrial automation for oil and gas, enabling the maintenance of digital communication between various components such as distributed controllers, workstations, and other computing elements. The DCS controls processes such as oil and gas refineries, pipeline transport, and extraction.

The field instruments market is expected to hold the largest size of the industrial automation market for oil and gas in 2017. Field instruments comprise three types of transmitters - pressure, temperature, and flow, which are used for various processes involved in instrumentation. Pressure transmitters are extensively used in the oil and gas sector for the measurement of flow, level, pressure, density, and viscosity, among which flow measurement is the most common application area.

Tullow Oil has released a statement to summarise recent operational activities and to provide trading guidance in respect of the financial half year to 30 June 2017

The global recruitment partner Petroplan’s survey on Talent Insight Index 2017 has revealed that the oil and gas industry is facing skill shortages among workers, with many professionals intending to move jobs to other sectors as a potential career choice