After demonstrating the effectiveness of its anti-theft technology on power sports equipment, other vehicles and home property, a Red Deer company is turning its attention to the oilpatch.
Certified Secure Identification Corp. manufactures and distributes microdot identifiers under the name I-DOT. About the size of a grain of sand, each contains a unique code registered in the name of the marked asset’s owner.
The dots are virtually invisible unless viewed under an ultraviolet black light.
Certified Secure Identification, or CSI, has been manufacturing I-DOTs since 2007. They’ve proven popular with owners of power sports vehicles like motorcycles, cars and trucks, and even personal assets.
The oilpatch also appears to be developing an appetite for the microscopic security system.
“We’ve probably done between $70,000 and $80,000, at least, in business in the oilfield already,” said CSI president Louis Bouchard, listing EnCana Corp. and ConocoPhillips Co. as among his customers.
One oilpatch company was losing about 10 solar panels a month when it came to CSI.
“They haven’t experienced another theft since we marked.”
Other assets now sporting I-Dots include cattle gates, drive flowmeters, light towers and computer equipment.
CSI is also working to protect copper wire — a popular target among thieves, said Bouchard.
“They’ll actually tie up to the copper grounding cables and just drive away with them and pull them right out of the ground.”
Another problem plaguing the energy sector is the loss of diesel fuel, both from storage tanks and parked equipment, said Bouchard. He’s heard reports of companies losing up to $100,000 worth of fuel in a month.
“Diesel fuel theft is a huge issue for the oil industry.”
The I-DOT system can’t address this, he acknowledged, but CSI is working on another way for companies to mark their diesel fuel.
“They’ll have their own mark where you can actually walk up to the tank of a truck and push a button on a key fob, and it’s going to beep and tell them it’s theirs.”
The system, which Bouchard hopes will be ready for use in the first half of next year, will also allow diesel to be identified visually using a special light.
CSI has an agent dealing with prospective customers in Oklahoma and Texas, and has been talking to companies at Fort McMurray. It’s received favourable press from industry publications like Pipeline News, and of course a buy-in from the likes of EnCana and ConocoPhillips doesn’t hurt.
Despite the potential that exists in the oilpatch, Bouchard said his company continues to pursue the markets it started with.
“We’re still concentrating on those.”
He conducted a couple recent presentations to Rural CrimeWatch organizations, and CSI has obtained a valuable endorsement from Calgary CrimeStoppers.
Meanwhile, the company continues to market other security devices. These include Laptop Cop, which allows the owner of a stolen computer to access the device when it goes online and retrieve and delete files; and BioBoss, which creates a separate system through which online transactions can be processed to prevent hackers and viruses from accessing the computer’s hard drive.
CSI’s website is located at www.csi-dots.com.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com