This page covers the explosion proof mobile phone requirement across upstream oil and gas in the United States: Permian and Eagle Ford wellsites in Texas, the Bakken in North Dakota, Marcellus and Utica gas in Appalachia, and the Alaska North Slope. It is written for operators, service companies and the HSE teams who decide what is carried onto a wellpad or into a gas plant. For two large operators, see our pages on an explosion proof phone for ExxonMobil and an explosion proof phone for Chevron. The IS-04Z1 is designed around intrinsic safety rather than a flameproof enclosure.
Launching Q4 2026 · certification programme in progress
The Permian is the largest US oil region and spans the Midland and Delaware sub-basins of west Texas and southeast New Mexico. Both ExxonMobil and Chevron report more than a million net acres there, developed from multi-well pads. In North Dakota, the Bakken in the Williston Basin produces more than a billion cubic feet a day of associated gas alongside oil, and the state’s industrial commission has reported flaring falling to about 6 per cent. In Appalachia, Marcellus and Utica gas runs through processing plants and compressor stations across several states. In Alaska, Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk and Alpine are the North Slope facilities, worked in conditions that are the opposite of the Permian’s. Texas regulates hydrogen sulfide under Railroad Commission Rule 36, which applies additional requirements once gas contains 100 parts per million or more, and Permian wells are known for sour production. That makes the combination of an Ex handset and a personal gas monitor more than a formality.
Upstream is defined by distance and by who is on the location. The handset has to work alone as well as in a group.
A pumper or lease operator covers a route of pads and tank batteries and charges the phone in the truck, not at a desk. The 4,000 mAh battery is specified for a working shift, and four-constellation GNSS keeps a lone worker locatable.
On a location with measurable H2S, a handset is an addition to the monitor each person wears. Bluetooth pairing to a monitor is part of the design intent, and neither device replaces the other.
North Dakota and the North Slope are where touch input and battery behaviour are tested hardest. We will not give a low-temperature rating that has not been confirmed in certification testing; ask for the datasheet figure.
Completion and workover crews move between locations. Android Enterprise enrolment lets an operator add, restrict and wipe a device without sending it back to an office.
This is generic. We have not verified any single operator’s vendor-registration programme and do not describe one.
OSHA’s rule on classified locations requires approved equipment, so the NRTL mark and the class, division and group on it are what a field safety officer reads first.
API recommended practices cover classification in both Division and Zone terms. Many US operators still draw wellsites in Class and Division, so ask which they use.
Agree whether a service company or the operator buys the handset, and who handles spares when a crew is working far from a depot.
No. It is pre-launch with certification in progress. Teams can review the datasheet and the certification schedule and ask about an evaluation place, but no certificate has been issued.
That is the design target. Upstream, dust is a lesser concern than in refining, but frac sand and dusty lease roads still make an IP68 device sensible.
A handset can store records and photographs and send them when coverage returns, and GNSS does not need a network. Voice and live data depend on whatever coverage, radio or private network the operator provides.
Tell us the site, the zone and gas group, and roughly how many handsets. The SAMS team replies by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule for United States. The IS-04Z1 is pre-launch and certification is in progress, so there is no list price yet; indicative pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
Tell us the zone, gas group and operator. We will send the datasheet and the certification schedule for your market.
