AnalysisU.S. oil and gas infrastructure is vulnerable - and opportunity for companies with right solutions

The vulnerability of the U.S. oil and gas installations is not exactly a secret. Terrorists know this: Recent postings in Jihadist Web forums encourage terrorists to attack oil and gas targets to cripple the U.S. economy. The Washington, D.C.-based SITE Institute (Search for International Terrorist Entities), a non-profit research group, recently published a report titled “Targets for Jihad Operation Focus upon Oil Pipelines, Refineries, and Pumping Stations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Within the United States.” Defending the U.S. oil and gas infrastructure will not be easy or simple. The United States has some 470,000 miles of oil and gas transmission pipelines which crisscross the country, with links to Mexico and Canada (the figure is taken from the Congressional Research Service [CRS] Report to Congress on pipeline security). The CRS report says that “The nation’s pipeline networks are also widespread, running alternately through remote and densely populated regions; consequently, these systems are inherently vulnerable to terrorist attack.”

Pipelines in densely populated areas may be better monitored because the technological infrastructure exists to relay data and images on a security network. Pipelines and oil and gas installations in remote, sparsely populated areas are largely unguarded owing to logistical difficulties and the cost involved.

Denver, Colorado-based HS3 Technologies (HS3) (OTCBB: HSTT), a homeland security solutions company, believes it has a solution. It recently unveiled a new, cost-effective satellite-based security surveillance system targeting the U.S. oil and gas facilities in rural areas. HS3’s security surveillance and monitoring system consists of high-resolution cameras, proprietary software, and flow-monitoring components. Real-time, high-resolution images and data are beamed through WildBlue Communications Ka-band satellite to any designated remote control station. The choice of Ka-Band is good, as it offers higher internet speeds, cheaper internet costs, more affordable equipment, and higher reliability. Additionally, the HS3 system also offers access to images and data through a cell phone.

Mark Lana, CEO of HS3, does not mince words: “U.S. oil and gas installations are in the crosshairs of Jihadists. This should be a wake up call for the industry. We designed our system with two main focal points — security surveillance and production flow monitoring. In light of the recent threats it is paramount that we deploy the system to rural installation to protect our oil and gas assets in the United States.” He is right (about the problem, and probably about the contribution HS3 can make to address it).

-read more at WideBlue Web site; and see HS3 Web site