Chris Akers, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Eureka Midstream, discusses how the company utilizes everyday technology like iPhones, iPads, and GPS to maximize efficiency in pipeline operations. This allows project managers to make timely decisions to minimize construction timelines and costs. The technology documents work orders, land agreements, and compliance issues in real-time. Using existing consumer devices keeps costs low versus custom vendor solutions. This approach helped Eureka Midstream achieve construction costs below industry average as a smaller company.

1. Interview with: Chris Akers,
Executive Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer, Eureka Mid-
stream
“We try to incorporate everyday
technology to maximize operations, and
minimize staff and resources.
Companies in the midstream business
are not usually technology-savvy. Off-
the-shelf technology, iPhones, iPads and
Global Positioning System (GPS)
technology are now allowing us to make
better business decisions,” says Chris
Akers, Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer, Eureka
Midstream.
Akers is a speaker at the marcus
evans Energy Pipeline Management
Summit 2016, in Houston, Texas, May
23-24.
In the midstream business, how can
technology be better utilized?
Parts of this business are still in the
Stone Age when it comes to technology
usage. We try to incorporate available
technology, that the average consumer
uses daily.
Our hourly workforce uses iPhones to do
the work orders, complete documents,
compliance items, and Global
Information Systems (GIS) to capture
data.
As our land agents go out to purchase
or lease land for pipelines, they
document restrictions, the status of the
pipeline and any issues with the land
owner. The minute they put the
information on their app, it automati-
cally gets populated in our GIS. This
allows the project managers to make
timely decisions on reroutes or other
adjustments to the pipeline. This
minimizes the time it takes to route and
build a pipeline.
When building five different pipelines,
this technology documents all
compliance needs and the status of the
constructions allowing our project
managers to make decisions quickly.
What costs savings can this lead to?
The midstream business is very capital-
intensive and changes are costly. If you
get 20 percent down the road and then
have to make a change, it will be costly.
Change orders might be up to a million
dollars, having instant data allows us to
make changes without it being 30 or 40
days down the road when you are
informed of issues.
Can everyday technology be
implemented at a low cost?
We use low cost, off-the-shelf
technology, using people‟s own devices.
We do not ask vendors to build a
technology solution for us. It is the
opposite. We say, „What is out there
already for the average consumer that
we can also utilize?‟
The construction costs of the
Eureka Midstream were below
industry average. How did you
achieve that?
As a small company, we have fewer
overheads and no large corporate
structure that burdens our projects. We
are very efficient with the use of
technology to keep construction costs at
the low end.
What advice do you have on
delivering projects on time?
Having good and efficient processes.
Some companies have processes that
are extremely burdensome and people
have to go through multiple approval
channels. Having parameters in place
but giving project managers flexibility to
make decisions works well for us. If
they can make adjustments without
much interaction with the corporate
people we can hit our timelines.
We try to
incorporate
readily
available
technology,
devices
people
already
have
Using Everyday Technology
to Make the Midstream
Business More Efficient

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