Case Study: Remote Offshore Communications Architecture Achieves Telecomm Security

"Schlumberger's deep vertical knowledge of the oil and gas industry helped one major company meet challenges faced in the long, complex multiphased endeavor of building a new drilling platform." Click to view Schlumberger's deep vertical knowledge of the oil and gas industry helped one major company meet challenges faced in the long, complex multiphased endeavor of building a new drilling platform. Click to view An IT/TCOMM cabinet is moved into the unfinished living quarters. The completed system takes up a minimal amount of valuable onboard real estate. Click to view Diagram of the collaboration network put in place to provide a secure shared workspace for all parties to the project. Click to view A unique plug-and-play secure communications capability is readily available to all onboard. Click to view Placing one of two load-balanced VSAT satellite antennas onboard the platform. Click to view Completed platform in place in deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

• Phase 1
  Design and implement a secure and efficient way for all involved in the project to communicate and collaborate.
• Phase 2
  Design and engineer information technology (IT) and telecommunications (TCOMM) systems on the new platform.
• Phase 3
  Provide unique connectivity solution used by all on board. Implement and commission all the platform’s IT and TCOMM systems with continuous monitoring of the network connectivity and other system parameters once operations began.
  

• Challenge: A global oil and gas company sought an efficient way to communicate with all involved parties during all phases of the new platform project, from inception to first oil. The client needed a secure means for all project partners, contractors, consultants, and vendors—some of whom were competitors—to freely share project data, drawings, and other project-related applications and information from globally diverse locations while maintaining the security and integrity of all other corporate information.
  
  
• Solution: SIS created a collaborative network that provided all team members secure global connections to a centrally managed project workspace. This allowed access for all involved parties to gather, disseminate, share, and manage documentation, drawings, plans, and schedules for the life of the project. The depth of knowledge within Schlumberger, compared with the client’s limited in-house capabilities, was instrumental in the client’s decision to partner with SIS to deliver the IT and TCOMM systems. Having an efficient and aggressive project plan bolstered by a communication network that provided for maximum teamwork and team interaction lowered development costs and saved project time, thereby reducing the time to first oil.

• Challenge: Design and implementation of a highly secure and sophisticated communications and safety infrastructure for the platform. The remote offshore location, with its demanding logistics, harsh environment, hazardous working conditions, and expensive support structure dictated very stringent specifications.
  
  Additionally, the IT and TCOMM systems needed to provide 100% real-time connectivity to remotely monitor, manage, and support all platform operations, as well as quality, health, safety, environment (QHSE) and production needs. Since the IT and TCOMM systems and associated cable plant are integral parts of the platform build, on-time delivery of the systems was mandatory to avoid delays in the overall project.
  
  The IT and TCOMM specifications and basic engineering design required more than 22 different communications and safety systems that were commissioned on board the platform. With the installation sandwiched between other vendors’ tasks, it was imperative that all tasks be completed on time to avoid construction delays, which in turn would delay the client’s objective.
  
  
• Solution: Schlumberger worked with the client’s project team to define the IT and TCOMM system requirements that would eliminate any lost production that could result from communication failure on the platform.
  
  SIS drew on its experience and wide array of connectivity services—ranging from design and engineering of the communications requirements through manufacturing of satellite systems to implementation and support—to design and deliver these state-of-the-art systems. The implementation included gathering and defining the infrastructure requirements, defining the scope of work, and providing system design and detailed engineering. The design incorporated a specially engineered secure Internet protocol (IP), multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), wide area network (WAN) architecture, and redundant platform local area network (LAN) infrastructure.
  
  To ensure continuous communications from the offshore location in the event of equipment or space segment failure, the configuration included two load-balanced satellite antennas with space segments connecting to two different satellites and landing at two geographically diverse Earth stations. During the design process, SIS also worked closely with automation and pipeline partners to ensure network real-time connectivity for SCADA monitors and other operational and production equipment. Thus, the system provides the necessary secure communication and reliable real-time data transmission, meeting the client’s demand for 100% connectivity uptime despite limited bandwidth availability.

• Challenges: Reliable connectivity is mandatory for remote monitoring from the client’s global corporate network of SCADA and other operational and production equipment in use on the platform.
  
  Also, typically, contractors working on rigs must provide their own connectivity or rely on being granted limited access through the operator’s network. The process to set up access for every new contractor and third party after the platform is operational is often expensive and time consuming. The limited access that can result leaves contractors frustrated, isolated, and possibly ineffective in providing their services. This project called for a better solution that would provide partners and contractors with secure connectivity from the platform to their own corporate networks.
  
  
• Solution: SIS continues to provide the connectivity and support that are crucial in optimizing the IT-dependent workflows on board. Having a real-time view of ongoing situations and production on the offshore platform also allows the client to engage technical and engineering specialists and contractors onshore to make critical decisions, thereby saving valuable time and considerable expense in traveling to and from the platform, as well as minimizing production delays.
  
  Having a unique combination of remote and terrestrial links that provide everyone on the platform secure access to their individual corporate networks, as well as the ability to collaborate from multiple locations in real time through a shared communications system, improves efficiency.
  
  The plug-and-play communications solution includes a specially configured IP router designed to provide a secure but private connection that accommodates each company or contractor, allowing for a service extension to each organization’s own corporate network or to the Internet.
  
  The platform has experienced no interruption in communications or production from IT or TCOMM downtime. The provision of continuous communication allows better leverage of SCADA and other monitoring equipment to remotely manage offshore systems. This continues to minimize the number of support staff needed. With the same real-time information available onshore, the client is more efficiently using the expertise of its onshore specialists who spend less time traveling and more time solving problems and optimizing production.
  
  Telecomm solution includes plug and play What started out as the client’s need to have an efficient way for all project team members to communicate resulted in a well thought out, comprehensive communications system still supporting the platform’s operations. Meeting all the objectives of this project assured the completion of the platform on time and on budget, but more importantly, it reduced the time to first oil on this fast-paced project.
  
  The IT and TCOMM systems touch every discipline and area of the total project. Completing the design, installation, and commissioning required coordination and teamwork with other project vendors and fabricators.
  
  The unique plug-and-play connectivity solution developed for this platform provides a cost-effective yet secure solution over redundant satellite systems that exceeded the client’s expectations. It provides the secure connectivity needed for the client’s business, automation, and production networks, and also provides an efficient and cost effective way to provide third-party vendors and contractors with the secure connectivity and communications they need to get their jobs done.