Range 1km (expected to be somewhat higher in future versions), low powered (DC battery), open-source, 600 kbps, 900Mhz unlicensed band. Project status: not yet ready for professional applications (KickStarter / hobby market). Competes with ZigBee (802.15.4) & augments WiFi (802.11) to enable the “internet of things”. In an oil & gas field application, a mesh system would need to be setup. This is preferred regardless in order to increase uptime. It is open-source, so conceivably the cost of such a system would be orders of magnitude less than current commercialized systems. I would expect that service companies would modify the code and make a branded version to augment their existing product suite. Special care would need to be taken for the oil & gas industry to minimize maintenance costs (labour being a key factor for oil & gas) and to enable installation in harsh environments.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2021474419/flutter-20-wireless-arduino-with-half-mile-1km-ran