LED Lighting for Oil and Gas Facilities - Safety and Market Trends

Introduction

Lighting in the global oil and gas sector has to satisfy two main objectives at the same time: to guarantee the safety of employees in classified areas, and to facilitate the continuous operation of a highly demanding industrial environment. In order to light up oil and gas facilities a lot of chemicals are used, for example, a mixture of explosive gases, mechanical stress, salt corrosion, and variations in temperature which can go to extremes. Under these circumstances, lighting systems have to be not only rugged and long lasting but also certified. In 2025 and early 2026, oil and gas players have accelerated lighting upgrades as part of broader safety programs, digitalization efforts, and energy transition strategies.

LED lighting technology has become the standard among new lighting installation and retrofit projects in the oil and gas sector. Operators invest in LED systems because of their extremely long service life, less frequent maintenance, the ability to start instantly, and the fact that they can be used in areas classified as hazardous without any problems. Also, certified LED fixtures provide a steady level of illumination without generating excess heat which could be a potential ignition source, unlike legacy high-intensity discharge (HID) and fluorescent fixtures.

In 2025, Schneider Electric added new versions of its DIVA and Harmony series to the latest iterations of certified hazardous area LED fixtures for oil and gas clientele which are ATEX and IECEx explosion proof standards compliant, thereby continuing to develop its portfolio. Schneider Electrics product focus is a reflection of how the demand for certified LED technology has evolved across industrial structures requiring global compliance.

For a detailed evaluation of certified LED products designed for hazardous environments, refer to the Hazardous Location LED Lighting Market report and its table of contents.

Major Trends, Drivers and Challenges

Purchasing decisions are heavily influenced by regulatory compliance and safety standards. Lighting, throughout the oil and gas value chain, faces a series of stringent requirements that are related to ATEX, IECEx, NEC Class/Division, and local country specifications. The standards control various aspects such as the design of the enclosure, temperature ratings, ingress protection, and the containment of a flame path. Non-compliance is a risk operators cannot take if they want to avoid regulatory penalties, insurance liabilities, or production shutdowns.

Certification is another area of focus for the industry players to boost their innovation efforts. Toward the end of 2025, Eatons Crouse, Hinds series unveiled certain updates of their explosion proof LED lineup, which incorporated higher lumen efficacy and broader temperature range ratings that are compatible with offshore and onshore petrochemical environments. These products have already been used in projects in the Middle East, North America, and Southeast Asia, where plants experience harsh working conditions and are subjected to aggressive duty cycles.

Lighting upstream mostly focuses on the features of the products such as robustness and low maintenance. Offshore platforms and drilling rigs are very harsh environments. For example,  ABB launched sturdy LED lighting with housings that are reinforced and state-of-the-art thermal management to tackle salt spray, constant vibration, and buffer zone operations. Since any failure of lighting on a deck offshore can cause layoffs and at the same time, increase the risk of accidents, operators are inclined to purchase products that have maintenance intervals of several years.

Midstream deployment still emphasizes integrated systems. Pipeline operators and storage terminals increasingly specify LED lighting which can be integrated with the control systems and remotely monitored platforms. In 2025, ROAM Innovations revealed their line of smart LED lighting solutions for tank farms and valve station lighting incorporated with remote status reporting thus enabling centralized visibility besides SCADA systems, which is a common industrial lighting trend.

Downstream facilities are implementing upgrades to their existing equipment. Refineries and petrochemical plants which are 24/7 operations have been replacing the old metal halide lamps by high bay LED lighting fixtures to not only save energy but also get better lighting quality. Philips (Signify) shared that they witnessed an increase in their project awards towards the end of 2025 for certified LED floodlights and high bay lighting at refinery expansions in the Asia Pacific and the Gulf Cooperation Council regions, places known for strict safety and energy codes.

Conservation of energy and sustainability are still the main reasons behind such a move. Although the mandatory requirements force them to use certified products, the operators are also looking for solutions that will not only save energy but also greatly reduce the cost over the lifetime of the equipment. In 2026, TotalEnergies Rotterdam refinery carried out several LED lighting installation projects as part of a company-wide energy efficiency program where the company boasted of huge savings in electricity consumption and maintenance costs due to their retrofitting of hazardous areas with LED lighting without sacrificing safety.

Smart lighting and digital integration are among the latest trends to emerge. With remote monitoring, dimming controls, and zoned lighting, facilities can be tailored to operational needs, thus avoiding the use of lighting in non-critical times excessively. Manufacturers are bundling LED systems with integrated IoT modules that can be connected to facility asset management platforms. These features help predictive maintenance, thereby reducing the number of unplanned outages and improving overall reliability, especially in sensitive classified areas.

There is still a challenge despite strong adoption momentum. Oil and gas application certified LED lighting systems have a higher initial cost due to the requirement of specialized design, testing, and certification. Procurement cycles could be prolonged as manufacturers are forced to deal with global compliance regimes and individual customer specifications.

Retrofit complexity also remains a barrier for brownfield sites. A majority of the old facilities need to be structurally modified, have their conduit layout changed, and to work around the intermittent downtime of their operations, these are the factors that can lead to project timelines and budgets being stretched and thus not be cost-effective.

Capital expenditure cycles and oil price fluctuations have an effect on investment timing. Even though lighting upgrades focused on safety will always be necessary, non-essential projects that are related to extensive modernization can be put off when operators restrict CAPEX as a result of fluctuating commodity prices.

However, the effects of poor lighting such as accidents, non-compliance with regulations, insurance disruption, and loss of reputation, are significantly more serious than the expense of installing modern LED lighting systems. Given that oil and gas operators are constantly looking for ways to improve asset integrity, safety of the workforce, and operational efficiency, LED lighting is and will remain to be a fundamental part of the infrastructure of the plant in 2025 and 2026.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Definition and Scope of Oil and Gas Facility Lighting
3. Regulatory and Hazardous Area Requirements
4. Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream Use Cases
5. LED Technology Benefits and Performance Criteria
6. Smart Lighting and Control Integration
7. Retrofit and Brownfield Deployment Challenges
8. Cost, Procurement, and Lifecycle Considerations
9. Competitive Positioning Summary
10. Outlook and Strategic Opportunities

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