It is nature’s irony that the most valuable resources are often found in the most hostile environments. That is why fast, reliable, secure communications are so vital to the success of modern oil and gas enterprises around the world. Whether it is voice or data, from platform to headquarters, field to field, or company-wide, the constant flow of digital information is the lifeblood of today’s energy industries.
But the demands of real-time or even right-time communications can strain more traditional networks. The technology and supporting systems have to be up to the job in what are often very challenging circumstances. Failure is always costly, sometimes catastrophic.
The Time Factor
The answer lies in the new generation of internet protocol (IP)-based satellite and terrestrial communications technologies. Designed to function in these difficult environments, they’re fast, robust, mobile and highly flexible. In our case they also link nearly a century of oil and gas expertise with the drive to keep finding new and better ways for our customers to manage information.
At Schlumberger we have always tried to look beyond pure technology. We are more familiar than most with the vast amounts of data that flow around the globe, from wellhead to lab, technician to decision maker. We know from experience how critical it can be to reduce the time to first strike, or to extend the life of a field – and the role that information plays in these events.
Applying the Science
So we have taken the attention we pay to quality and precision – which has won Schlumberger its reputation for scientific and engineering excellence – and applied it to the design of secure, real-time digital information systems for the sector we know best. Our systems comprise hardware that we have designed and manufactured ourselves, in unique configuration with a range of communications technologies. Between them, very small aperture terminals (VSAT) and multi protocol label switching (MPLS) allow us to offer satellite or terrestrial services for every conceivable type of oil and gas operation.
Whatever the project – exploration or production, on land or at sea – Schlumberger hardware and systems come together to provide real time, point-to-point or network-wide digital communications.
By Satellite
Working where conventional networks are either unreliable or simply not available can be a major communications challenge. Our solution is to look at the specific needs of the energy industries and integrate them with the available technologies.
Using VSAT we are able to design and install private or shared networks that deliver voice, data and video services to and from remotely located sites anywhere in the world. We assign a team of technicians and engineers to every project. They are responsible for everything from initial design, solution development and license application (if necessary), through to deployment and testing, ongoing management and support.
Knowing the industry as we do, we are always conscious of our customers’ need for cost efficiency, high performance and flexibility – no matter how remote the installation.
By Land
While most oil and gas data are gathered in the field, critical decisions today are increasingly made at regional or divisional headquarters, thousands of miles away. Now Schlumberger has partnered up with BT to provide access to the world’s most sophisticated global multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network, which sees voice, data and multimedia converging as never before. BT’s global infrastructure allows us to offer our VSAT customers an unprecedented range of highly robust terrestrial connections via 1,200 points of presence in over 95 countries.
MPLS is known for its inbuilt flexibility and security. We have exploited these characteristics to create a new generation of internal communications services that allow users within an organisation to collaborate and share applications. Hooking these up with more traditional inter-company networks, we can open up new ways to optimise network architecture and costs without affecting overall performance. Add in our remote satellite networks, and Schlumberger can claim to offer one of the industry’s few genuinely end-to-end communications networks.
Service and Support
Any technology service is only as good as the support and maintenance that comes with it. Things do go wrong from time to time. Then they need to be put right as quickly and painlessly as possible. For over eighty years, Schlumberger has built a reputation for looking after its customers in a sector where operating conditions are often more difficult and downtime is more costly than most. We have made it an absolute priority to continue that tradition with our connectivity services.
We have customer service centres located around the world. Staffed by highly trained technicians – and at Schlumberger when we say ‘highly trained’ we really mean it – they provide remote diagnostic and support facilities. Customers can also check the status of their systems in near realtime at our online customer service site. We also have technicians and engineers based in all of the world’s key centres for oil and gas exploration and production. They are permanently on call for troubleshooting at remote sites. Lastly, a small but – we think – significant point. At Schlumberger we communicate 90% of the time using our own connectivity systems and services.
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