Oilfield exploration and production facilities operate in unforgiving environments – blistering deserts, arctic fields and the open ocean. Hundreds of miles from the nearest town or mark of civilisation, basic necessities such as electricity, clean water and reliable communications cannot be taken for granted. Everything that workers need must either be brought with them or made on site. Harsh conditions and remote locations combine to make a reliable communications system more than just a luxury – it becomes a lifeline.
With the right system and service provider, a true ‘always-on’ broadband satellite connection can be much more than just a means of basic communications. It can enable your oilfield facility to harness the power of emerging broadband applications and realtime remote management tools.
From an operational perspective, these broadband applications can reduce costs by enabling realtime decision-making from central operations centres and by minimising downtime. From a safety and security perspective, a satellite communications solution can offer the ability to authenticate an employee’s identification or to respond immediately to an emergent situation. Additionally, satellite solutions can help improve the morale of personnel on extended assignments by providing access to e-mail and public telephone services for staying in touch with their families.
For many remote oilfield and energy operations, satellite technology is the only logical and viable choice for communications, but while there is a wide range of technologies and service providers in the satellite industry, they are not all created equal. Maximising the benefits of a remote satellite communications solution requires a clear sense of how a satellite solution might fit with the application environment of an oilfield operation.
Considerations for Selecting a Satellite Solution
Evaluating the choices in satellite communications for remote locations may seem daunting at first, but the range of offerings can quickly be narrowed by answering a few key questions.
- Is the service truly high-speed broadband?
- Does the service support both broadband data and voice?
- Does the service have global coverage?
- Is the technology employed field-proven for tough environments?
- Does the service offer ‘business grade’ guarantees?
- Can communications costs be predicted and controlled?
Most ‘mass market’ satellite communication services available cannot meet the stringent requirements of oilfield environments. Hand-held satellite phone services provide an excellent substitute for cellular mobile phones when outside of the metropolitan infrastructure, but the data services, if available, are generally rather slow at 20kbps or less. INMARSAT, an established service primarily for the maritime industry, offers excellent global coverage. However, as with mobile satellite phones, data rates are generally slow and not well-suited to broadband applications. Both hand-held satellite phones and INMARSAT systems are metered services, charging the user by the minute or megabyte, making telecom costs for the remote operation highly variable and unpredictable.
Other seemingly inexpensive two-way satellite services that do offer flat-rate burstable broadband connectivity are more oriented towards residential or small office environments. Intended to provide Internet access for mass markets, these offerings do not provide traditional voice services or connection to the public telephone network. Coverage areas for mass market satellite Internet service providers (ISPs) are usually limited to more populated areas, without the availability for international or offshore applications.
Perhaps the most important consideration is that all of the aforementioned services are ‘best effort’ innature, offering no guarantees as to uptime, network availability or minimum data rates. Likewise, the equipment used to provide the services is generally of a consumer electronics quality – not adapted to resist extreme temperatures or corrosive environments. While such services definitely have a market and a customer following, they are not well-suited to the mission critical and harsh environments found in the oilfield and energy industry.
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Integrated Operations
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