OIL AND GAS
The oil and gas industry or also called the hydrocarbons sector chain corresponds to the set of economic activities related to exploration, production, transport, refining or processing and marketing of non-renewable natural resources known as hydrocarbons (organic material composed mainly of hydrogen and carbon), this set is also made up of the regulation and administration of these activities.
PROCESSES
The value chain typically consists of three major areas; (a) exploration and production – upstream, (b) Transport – midstream, and (c) Refining and Marketing – downstream.
Also known as exploration and production (E&P), this sector includes the search for potential crude oil and natural gas deposits, both underground and underwater, the drilling of exploratory wells, and subsequently the drilling and exploitation of wells that bring crude oil or natural gas to the surface.
It consists of transporting them from the wellhead to storage and processing sites, such as pumping stations, refineries and marketing centers (ports). Hydrocarbons are transported through oil (petroleum), gas pipelines (gas), tank cars (oil) and ships (oil).
It commonly refers to the tasks of refining crude oil and the processing and purification of natural gas, as well as the marketing and distribution of products derived from crude oil and natural gas. Refining consists of transforming oil by subjecting it to high temperatures, which reach 400 degrees Celsius, to obtain derived products. Process by which a wide variety of derived products are transformed, mainly fuels (ACPM and gasoline) and petrochemicals (petroleum jelly, brushes, tires, plastics).
In this link all those activities of a commercial nature are carried out, to make the products available to users. Typically, wholesale or retail distributors are used. Petroleum and gas derivatives are usually gasoline, lubricants, poison, kerosene, tires, paraffin, detergents, polyethylene, solvents, and others.
NEEDS
The hydrocarbon industry is generally highly regulated, often with price controls and is often the government of ownership and operation. Typically, many of the facilities involved in each of the industry’s processes can come to be considered critical infrastructure and therefore of national interest. This classification should be determined as a result of the criticality assessment using appropriate assessment methods, techniques and models. Suppliers of industrial automation, security, and service systems in conjunction with hydrocarbon operators must ensure compliance with security and cybersecurity standards, such as ISA/IEC-62443, NIST 800-53/82, IEC-61511, API, NPFA, and others. Keeping up with rules and regulations is a challenge. 
SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE
Strategies and solutions based on information security technologies and perimeters are not enough to protect against all modern threats against electrical infrastructures. Industrial cybersecurity requires the protection of physical assets, i.e. the domain of physical security. Many programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and controllers for feed water pumps, feed water, valves, furnaces, boilers, turbines, generators, and capacitors are vulnerable due to the lack of built-in cryptographic controls, including: multi-factor authentication, secure boot, secure update, and encrypted secure communications.
OUR SOLUTION
In operational technology (OT) environments, risk is measured in terms of industrial safety and system availability. While data privacy is important, often human physical security, industrial process safety, environmental stewardship, and uptime drive the security needs of plants and large SCADA systems.
Our Solution for Security and Risk Management
ZCM is a system specially designed for industrial cyber risk management that allows organizations in the hydrocarbons sector to assess cyber risk in their industrial infrastructures and make the best mitigation decisions that really work. 
Once the industrial cyber risk has been realized, the ZCM system gives you the necessary tools to create resilient and robust industrial infrastructures to all types of threats, and at the same time comply with international standards (ISA/IEC-62443) and other popular regulations, such as those defined by organizations such as NIST and C2M2. 
Assess cyber risk consistently and make the best mitigation decisions with the ZCM.
Design and implement appropriate countermeasures that will actually mitigate intolerable risk.
Operate and maintain industrial infrastructures resilient to all types of threats.
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OTConnect News. Articles and Publications.
Fire injures “a number of people” at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery
A fire broke out at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery on October 18 and injured several people. The incident occurred at the Kuwait National Petroleum Company’s (KNPC) Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery on the Persian Gulf coastline just south of Kuwait City.
UK gas processing terminal shut down after methane leak
The Easington Gas Terminal in East Yorkshire, UK was shut down on October 19 after a methanol leak was discovered. Fire crews and emergency services attended the scene after the liquid leak was discovered at around 11:00 local time at Centrica’s plant at the site.
US refinery reaches $1 million settlement, admits no wrongdoing in 2018 explosion that injured 36
The Superior Refining Company has reached a settlement of around $1 million in relation to the 2018 explosion at its oil refinery in Superior, northwestern Wisconsin which injured 36 people and caused a mass evacuation of 21,000 people. The settlement reached on June 24 could mean those who were evacuated are eligible to receive $150 in compensation each.
Pipeline Pumping Station Explosion Kills Three in Iran
An explosion at an oil pipeline pumping station in southern Iran killed three workers and injured four others on July 6, Iranian state media reported.The explosion occurred at the Einkhosh oil field about 300 miles southwest of Tehran.
‘Eye of Fire’ in Gulf of Mexico Caused by Thunderstorm, Says PEMEX
Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) has said the cause of the 'eye of fire' that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on July 2 was the combination of a thunderstorm and a leak in a gas pipeline. The oil company said there was no oil spill and that immediate action to control the fire on the surface helped prevent any environmental damage.
Oil company fined £400,000 for North Sea platform gas leak
Offshore Apache oil company was fined £400,000 after it failed to provide written safety procedures for the depressurisation of an oil well, prompting the release of more than 1000kg of hydrocarbon gas at its Beryl Alpha production facility in the North Sea.
Deadly explosion reported at Romania’s largest oil refinery
Thick black smoke from the fire was reported to be moving away from the Romanian coast towards the Black Sea. Authorities said local citizens were safe, but advised them to close the windows.
Cyberattack forces closure of major U.S. pipeline
A cyberattack forced the temporary closure of one of the largest pipelines in the United States on Friday, underscoring already heightened concerns about vulnerabilities in the country critical infrastructure.
ARPEL and WisePlant sign cooperation agreement to promote the strengthening of cybersecurity in the energy sector in Latin America and the Caribbean
ARPEL (Regional Association of Companies in the Oil, Gas and Bio-fuels Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean) recently signed a memorandum of cooperation with WisePlant Group, with the aim of jointly promoting projects, studies, events and courses related to cybersecurity in critical infrastructures, in the search to make the most of the strengths of each one for the benefit of this issue that every day has more relevance in the oil industry and gas.
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