Commercial Satellite Networks to Monitor Remote Oil and Gas Sites
As the industry looks for additional ways to cut costs while trying to endure the drastic drop in global oil prices, there is at least one line item that until now had to be accepted: the high costs for remote network access via satellite. Used for everything from generating real-time information about unmanned pipelines and oilfield operations to workers accessing the Ethernet and Internet, without satellite communications industry giants risk disruptions that could create environmental disasters, production outages or other financial pain.
But a recent breakthrough in commercial satellite technology is allowing monthly rates to plummet, saving oil and gas companies hundreds of thousands per installation per year, while greatly increasing upload/download speeds — for operations that are out of microwave and hardwired areas.
As a result, oil and gas companies looking for effective ways to pinch pennies are taking a hard look at network infrastructure expenditures.
James Clemons, whose 30-year communications career includes an expertise in energy, pipelines and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems — or SCADA — believes satellite technology is drastically improving with each passing year and will only get better. Speed and stability during periods of violent weather are among the advances.
A technology revolution is allowing for satellite mobility. Users can simply pick up the tripos and relocate it anywhere within the contiguous 48 states and stay connected.
Clemons also says convenience is another advantage that oil and gas companies can expect. When a well dries up and operations must be moved from one isolated terrain to another, there is no need to buy a new satellite. This advance in technology allows for these satellites to be mobile. Simply pick up the tripod and relocate it anywhere within the contiguous 48 states and stay connected.
“It’s a definite improvement and less expensive. You can radio several remote locations into one master,”
Clemons says.
High premiums became the norm for industrial satellite internet connections, in part because the technology was just not advanced enough until now to handle the amount of data transmission as would be needed for this type of application. As new satellites come online within the coming months and years the speeds and capacities will continue to increase while the cost are projected will decrease even further.
As an example, this type of enterprise-level service with faster upload and download speeds is provided by outfits such as Real Time Communications (RTC), located in Kilgore, Texas. The company has serviced the oil and gas, government and industrial sectors for 20 years, and has been praised for tech support that is always available with short response times. Both fixed and mobile applications are available within the contiguous 48 states are available.
Advances in satellite technology will be boon for oil and gas, SCADA and pipeline projects like the Keystone Pipeline that have lengthy; unmanned segments that require remote date access.
Savings in Every Market Cycle
In the recent past, sensitivity to online costs was, perhaps, overshadowed by the higher cost of oil which enabled larger profits for companies. Now the “New Oil Order” suggests that the industry is seeking a new equilibrium, which may be a nice way of saying low prices will probably be volatile but trapped within a stingy range.
Corporate leaders like BP chief executive Bob Dudley have warned that oil producers could suffer even more losses in 2016 if already record-low prices lose more ground.
“Prices are going to stay lower for longer,” Dudley says. “We have said it and I think we are in this for a couple of years. For sure, there is a boom-and-bust cycle here.”
The good news is savings on satellite online services will still be available when crude oil prices begin to rise again. In fact, as technology continues to improve, monthly fees may continue to decline, providing even larger positives for an industry beset with unruly market declines.
Lower rates and increased upload/download speeds are the result of upgrades to hardware and the use of the Ka band, which supports mobile applications and has much more bandwidth than the previously used Ku band satellites. The capacity expansion is what allows for reception without interruption.
Providers such as RTC are now able to offer 1 MB upload and 5 MB download capability with a total of 20 GB of data per month at a dramatically reduced price. This technology will soon allow for even faster speeds and greater capacities. By the end of 2016, the company projects it will be offering 2 MB upload/15 MB download with a 50 GB capacity. Installation costs have also dropped by about 30 percent.
With the perspective of three decades of experience Clemons can fully appreciate how much technological progress has been made. In the old days companies would have to pay monthly fees for many analog circuits.
“When satellites came along, they eliminated the need to have a circuit dropped into every faraway rig or oil field,” he says. “So suddenly you did not have to pay for half a dozen separate sites.”
Clemons and other experts in the field believe that current speed and capacity will double again when a new satellite becomes available online within the year. And this will be a boon for new projects the size of the Keystone Pipeline that have lengthy unmanned segments that require remote data access.
Douglas Glenn Clark is a freelance writer who honed his writing skills as an editor and reporter for daily newspapers, including The Los Angeles Daily News. This article was provided on behalf of Real Time Communications LLC, based in Kilgore, Texas. Visit the company online at rtc-vsat.com.
Tags: remote monitoring, satellite networks, September 2016 Print Issue
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