UNDERSEA INFORMATION PIPELINE SOLUTIONS FOR OFFSHORE OIL & GAS FIELDS

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1 UNDERSEA INFORMATION PIPELINE SOLUTIONS FOR OFFSHORE OIL & GAS FIELDS Maurice E. Kordahi, PhD, Jeremiah Mendez, Robert K. Stix Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications LLC, New Jersey, USA Abstract: Undersea communication is rapidly making its way into the Oil & Gas field. This paper explores approaches to providing reliable, high-bandwidth interconnection of O&G facilities to each other as well as to land-based engineering and management centers. A number of solutions is being presented to take advantage of newly developed hardware and installation procedures, allowing penetration into existing exploration fields while building for future expansion. We review such architectures and provide a potential systematic approach to supplying high reliability solutions to network users. 1. INTRODUCTION To meet the ever-growing information bandwidth demand over the last 30 years, hundreds of thousands of kilometers of undersea cable have been installed worldwide serving both public and private entities. Similarly, to accomplish critical real-time data analyses of stateof-the-art exploration, drilling and recovery operations, undersea communication is rapidly making its way into the oil & gas field. Furthermore, installations and explorations are being undertaken farther from shore, in deeper environments. As facilities are placed further and further off shore, conventional communication methods such as microwave are limited by distance. On the other hand, satellites are convenient but suffer from bandwidth and security considerations. The need for high bandwidth has been growing with developments in data gathering associated with exploration and drilling, remote operational management / analyses, as well as personnel services / support such as telecommunications and video. Undersea cable systems have attributes that make them attractive both in features and cost. More and more, Oil and Gas companies are selecting undersea cable systems because of their flexibility and ability for providing point-to-point service, branched service, expandable service, or backbone/trunk service when facilities located far from the home office. In some cases where synergies may exist, systems may find use in providing for both Oil and Gas communication needs and traditional telecom needs to remote but nearby regions. This paper explores approaches to and benefits of undersea communication solutions in providing reliable, highbandwidth interconnection of these facilities to each other as well as to landbased control centers. This paper briefly reviews such architectures and presents a potential systematic approach to supplying technology and installation platform solutions. 2. THE OIL & GAS FIELD AND THE NETWORK As oil and gas fields are developed and exploited, initial platforms are first built and then expanded upon to adjust Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 1 of 5

2 production as market demand requires. Facilities that connect the platforms to the sea bottom are numerous and cover a fair amount of real estate surrounding any given platform. These include platform stability structures, guide tubes, flow lines, control lines, safety zones, etc. Some of the flow and control lines are pre-installed in integral platform tubes, and others are done subsequently through existing expansion tubes or hang-off devices. Consequently, when the time comes for some existing platforms to be connected with a high bandwidth information pipe, the surrounding areas around the platforms become extremely hard to navigate, and almost impossible to accommodate a fiber optic cable into the platforms. Thus given the opportunity, one would plan the system architecture through the oil and gas field to meet today s requirements, as well as be able to expand such connections in the future without having to do a full installation in the same vicinity, risking other assets on the bottom. Figure 1 shows the thousands of platforms and their density in the Gulf of Mexico. The majority of the platforms are in relatively shallow waters, but as explorations move into deeper waters, a greater number of platforms is being planned for these areas as well. COURTESY OF NOAA, OFFICE OF OCEAN EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH High-bandwidth fiber-optic connectivity from land to offshore platforms can be supported through a traditional backbone undersea system with function-specific requirements for Oil & Gas exploration. This can be accomplished due to the flexibility of several undersea system architectures which are ideal for such applications. They could be a combination of long-haul repeatered and short-haul repeaterless technologies, deriving robustness and flexibility from a repeatered trunk and the benefits of unpowered connectivity from repeaterless branches. Figure 2a shows a single trunk undersea system going through an oil and gas field. It shows a traditionally point-to-point system connecting two land masses, but penetrating through an area where platforms exist today, and plans are in full swing to have additional platforms in the future. Figure 2a. A Point-to-Point Undersea Network Going through an Oil & Gas Field Figures 2b and 2c provide other network architectures capable of providing additional redundant features along the undersea routes for the land shore users in case a sub-segment is rendered nonoperational due to a natural event, such as hurricanes, etc. Figure 1. Thousands of Existing Oil & Gas Platforms in the Gulf of Mexico Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 2 of 5

3 providing the flexibility for expansion and security. Figure 3 shows features of a generic offshore cable system and the many areas in which subsea communications components are used 1. Figure 2b. A Trunk-and-Branch Undersea Network Going through an Oil & Gas Field Figure 2c. A Ring Undersea Network Going through an Oil & Gas Field 3. OIL and GAS-FOCUSED SOLUTIONS Providing communication, from one land mass to another, through an Oil and Gas field becomes much more valuable if one integrated solutions to service the field is sought. Over the last few years TE SubCom has developed many O&Gspecific hardware that take advantage of the traditional suite of reliable undersea hardware 1. Such a suite of elements including undersea cable varieties, repeaters (amplifiers), cable joints, riser terminations, cable gateways (deployment pallets and fiber distribution canisters), as well as an array of installation platforms and methods, systems have been tailored to connect key oil and gas elements while Figure 3. Typical Oil & Gas Branch Connected to an Undersea network at an OADM Branching Unit However, while bottom topology is the essential driver for the route of traditional undersea networks, the route through an Oil & Gas field is often driven by right of ways, obstructions on the bottom, existing bottom facilities, hanging and suspended structures, or even future planned facilities. Therefore the exploration field and its future use will most often dictate the appropriate layout of a reliable connection into a high bandwidth information pipe. Depending on the different constraints within a specific part of O&G field, several expandable connections to existing or planned platforms could be envisioned. Figure 4a shows a network around a group of platforms with OADM branching units splitting the main trunk cable on the outside of the platforms, and distributing individual traffic to the different platforms through Fiber Distribution Canisters (FDC s). Similarly, Figure 4b splits the group of platforms, with a comparable set of hardware. Figure 4c provides a deadended connection off the network into an Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 3 of 5

4 conference & convention area of the O&G filed that is not penetrable beyond a certain point. In most cases, where existing field are being exploited, this might be the only applicable low risk solution. Figure 4c. Branch Cable Dead-Ends at a Group of Platforms Using Fiber Distribution Canister Figure 4a. Trunk Cable Around a Group of Platforms Using OADM Branching Units and Fiber Distribution Canisters Figure 4b. Trunk Cable Through a Group of Platforms Using OADM Branching Units and Fiber Distribution Canisters Copyright 2010 SubOptic These solutions could be applied in conjunction with the network configurations supplied in Figures 2a, 2b and 2c above, to provide adequate network redundancy and reliability as required. Figure 5 shows a point-to-point network with several O&G subarchitectures supporting numerous areas and topologies surrounding the different regions within the field. Figure 5. Point-to-Point Network with several O&G Sub-Architectures In such a system, cable, joints and interconnections are the enabling element in piecing together sophisticated networks and system architectures. Along with OADM branching units, high reliability joints and wetmate connections are a critical link in the chain of today s and tomorrow s Page 4 of 5

5 technologies for future system expansions. As sharing of the basic telecom network by different application users gets accepted by the undersea community, a newly developed enabler, a Four-Cable Branching Unit as shown in Figure 6, has been tested and is being planned into future undersea systems. Such product allows a physical sharing of the undersea plant, with independent powering and fiber/wavelength uses by each application user. Figure 6. Four-Cable Branching Unit with Two Functionally Independent Cables Several Oil & Gas companies have either installed or are considering the benefits of offshore networking to enhance and enable their production capabilities. Only recently, have all of the factors and elements necessary to drive to these solutions become available. Broadband undersea transmission, deepsea drilling, cost of oil/gas, and computing capabilities have all conspired to make undersea networks a must for the offshore Oil & Gas industry. Installation techniques, vessel capabilities (including Dynamic Positioning), and accuracy have also greatly aided in making these technologies available for use around sensitive drilling sites. 4. SUMMARY Although, undersea cables have long been used to connect land masses, commercial fiber-optic cable is rapidly gaining acceptance as a means for secure, high-bandwidth, infrastructure in the Oil & Gas area. Offshore industries are being driven to develop new, deeper, and more remote platforms using newer technologies. The challenge is to plan and navigate a way forward that maintains the history of traditional highreliability broadband performance while innovating to meet the needs of these expanding markets. Undersea systems comprised of both repeatered and non-repeatered elements have been presented here with network sub-architectures focused on serving the Oil & Gas fields. These solutions are meant to present a way forward to encourage the common use of a traditional undersea telecommunication network that serves an Oil & Gas field while respecting the needs and the requirements of each set of users. In many cases, broadband communications platforms can be extended to cover newly added systems subsea markets while exploiting synergies of existing inventories and maintenance agreements. The challenge is to plan and communicate available solutions to all undersea users without disadvantaging any of them. 5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors would like to thank their colleagues for their invaluable help in reviewing this paper, and acknowledge NOAA and Google Earth for the use of their material. 6. REFERENCES [1] Kordahi ME, Spalding MA, Sanders MM, Ma CS, Issa J, Mendez J, Stix RK, Underwater Hardware Design Challenges for the Offshore Platform Market, SubOptic 2007, May 2007, Baltimore, MD, USA. Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 5 of 5