OffComm news summer 2015: The SMARTER Digital Oilfield

S U M M E R

2 0 1 5

NEWS R E M O T E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S E X P L O R AT I O N

Revealed: The driving forces behind the future of remote comms

Guaranteeing continuity for critical data

The smarter

SPECIAL INTERVIEW

Absolute Mobility Globalstar pg 24

(and more cost-effective)

digital oilfield

Digital Oilfield market worth US$38.49billion by 2014 • Digital oilfield services to grow to +US$3.15billion in 2015 • Partnership connects Aberdeen on & offshore • M2M offshore expectations for next decade • More apps improve ops as networks deploy • Talking data! • Small devices with big ambition • Why now is NOT the time to be cutting comms budgets • PLUS The Quarterly, events, appointments and much more inside!

THE LOWDOWN

Produced by CTLD Publishing Ltd

Upstream Upstream Analytics: Market Overview IIT T SP ENDING PR OJECTIONS, SPENDING PROJECTIONS, OIL AND AND GAS GAS In 2015 capital expenditure expenditure by these companies is estimated to reach SD$500bn reach S D$500bn (of which over 10% is IT alone)

$

IT Spending in Oil and Gas Will Will Increase Incr ease to $49.4 Billion in 2016

$

In 2015, the Digital Oilfield services market will have grown grown by 40% - to more more than $3.18 billion

1

$

Software growth, Software leads gr owth, at a CAGR of 6.59%.

Upstream Upstr eam makes up 40% of IT spending and is expected to grow grow at a compound annual growth growth rate (CAGR) of almost 18%.

25% say IT budgets will

remain remain the same in 2016 as the IT budget plans for 2015

5% say

budgets would increase incr ease 5% in 2016 for 2015

DATA D ATA CH CHALLENGES ALLENGES Accessibility 15% Change Management 20% Formatting/Integrating 5% Latency 9% Quality 16% Standar ds 8% Standards V alue/Cost 10% Value/Cost V olume 10% Volume

The Data Driven Pr oduction Production Optimization Confer ence Conference (June 16-17, Houston)

DROWNING DR OWNING DATA? IN D ATA? Since a single rig can generate one terabyte day,, the of data each day total amount of data through ough a that passes thr Digital Oilfield can be potentially petabytesized (1015 bytes) or larger per day percent Less than 1 per cent of the information gathered from gather ed fr om about 30,000 separate data points was being made available to the people in the industry who make decisions

<1% BENEFI BENEFITS TS OF OF ANALYTICS ANALYTICS reduce E&P costs and shorten schedules raise productivity slash downtime make better use of the shrinking pool of experienced technical staff improve worker safety and health extend the lifetime of ‘brown fields’ undertake more complex projects to access reser ves in reserves difficult environments.

P POTENTIAL OTENTIAL COST COST SAVINGS SA AV VINGS Data analysis could help oil and gas companies boost production 6-8%.. production by 6-8% Apache executives: by improving pump performance of 1%, oil production will rise day, by half a million barrels a day ayy, with a gain year. of $19 billion a year r.

Halliburton estimated that its first development of a digital oilfield in a deepwater envir onment led the environment operator to achieve 95% uptime during the first month of pr oduction production and to avoid mor e than $64 million more production during the first in lost production 18 months.

3R 3RD D PL PLATFORM ATFORM Mobile, Cloud, Big Data/Analytics, Social By 2020 - 50% IT spending, 100% IT gr owth driven growth d platform 3rd by 3r By 2016, 70% of O&G companies will have invested programs ograms to evolve the in pr environment onment to a IT envir 3rd d platform driven 3r architecture chitecture to support ar eadily adapt to change. agility and rreadily

The industry-leading forum in which experts in the field of production production and operations data and analytics gather to share share strategies to use operational data effectively effectively to increase increase efficiency and improve improve production production rates in your operating assets.

To T o find out more more and reserve reserve your place www.upstreamintel.com/data go to: www .upstreamintel.com/data lharper@upstreamintel.com Email: lharper@upstr eamintel.com Tel. T eel. +44 (0)20 7375 7560

Contents

Summer 2015 flash comms contracts Q1 2015 page 9

Welcome In this edition, we look at how to cut costs and make the digital oilfield a smarter process.

While orders for new rigs and service vessels have slowed, in contrast it’s getting busier inside the comms firms enabling today’s digital oilfields.

Several key appointments, some creating new business areas, indicate that delivering innovation and cost effectiveness are high on the agenda. Indeed, on page 28, Martin Jarrold, chief of international programme development for the GVF, delivers his message to the oil and gas industry that now is not the time to be slashing connectivity budgets.

As E&P companies grapple with the current state of the market, the Remote Insight

S U M M E R

2 0 1 5

NEWS R E M O T E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S E X P L O R AT I O N

Revealed: The driving forces behind the future of remote comms

Guaranteeing continuity for critical data

Report in this issue looks at ways that oil and gas companies can smarten up existing comms systems, cut costs and improve operations at the same time. In fact, with M2M / SCADA sophistication well underway, the connectivity sector has an impending, important role in the future profits of mining and exploration. More about that in our Autumn edition, out in July.

Until then, enjoy the summer.

Georgina Elrington editor@OffCommNews.com Tweet us @OffCommNews

PS: In the meantime, you can find out what forces are driving the future of remote communications on page 26.

Inside this issue

SPECIAL INTERVIEW

Absolute Mobility Globalstar pg 24

The smarter (and more cost-effective)

digital oilfield

6

28

DEALS AND MARKETS Major announcements in the sector

ARTICLE Calling the Oil Industry Our man on the ground, Martin Jarrold, says that now is not the time to cut comms budgets

13 Digital Oilfield market worth US$38.49billion by 2014 • Digital oilfield services to grow to +US$3.15billion in 2015 • Partnership connects Aberdeen on & offshore • M2M offshore expectations for next decade • More apps improve ops as networks deploy • Talking data! • Small devices with big ambition • Why now is NOT the time to be cutting comms budgets • PLUS The Quarterly, events, appointments and much more inside!

THE LOWDOWN

Produced by CTLD Publishing Ltd

OffComm News is a trading name of CTLD Publishing Ltd. Company No. 7774639 ISSN 2051-9362. Read the digital version online by clicking the current edition image at http://OffCommNews.com.

OffComm News is available in print quarterly by subscription only.

Digital subscriptions are free via www.goo.gl/kr3bz For advertising contact: marketing@OffCommNews.com For editorial & subscription queries email: editor@OffCommNews.com or telephone 44 (0) 203 239 1777

REMOTE INSIGHT REPORT Smarter Digital Oilfields Vaughan O’Grady takes us through who’s enabling what, and how

22 SPECIAL INTERVIEW Guaranteeing the continuity of critical data Bob Legg at iOra looks at the challenges

24 Whether online or in print, copyright remains that of CTLD Publishing Ltd. It is prohibited to photocopy, scan, distribute either hard copies or digital versions on a website, via email or anywhere else without appropriate accreditation i.e. Source: OffComm News magazine. Reprints are available. The publisher is not responsible for the endorsement for products, services or opinion offered, nor any subsequent effects relating to accuracy, goodwill, substantiations or consequential outcomes relating to news, features or advertisements.

NEWS

SPECIAL INTERVIEW Absolute Mobility

26 FEATURE Deliberating tomorrow’s services Forces driving the future of remote comms

SUMMER 2015

30 CASE STUDY NTT Communications and IDS Operational reporting and data analysis

31 ARTICLE Exploring satellite for deploying real-time network O&G services

by Alexander Benitez, senior scientist, ComSource

32 ANALYSIS DNV GL looks at global industry confidence and priorities for the year ahead

3

The Quarterly - Marketplace Roundup Stay up to date with the market on these pages in every issue. In between, get the news to your inbox as it happens: http://goo.gl/kr3bz

Sunny and windy for the IoT

New windfarm service vessel

According to ABI Research, growth of the solar and wind industry will increasingly rely on adoption of IoT-based technologies and services. The firm expects IoT connected wind and solar installations to grow at a CAGR of 21% between 2014 and 2020 with the total number of connections growing from the almost two million in 2014 to 6.3 million in 2020.

Fleet operator, Esvagt has taken delivery of the second of three Havyard 832 SOV windfarm service vessels from Havyard Ship Technology AS. The vessel can accommodate 60 persons and is under the steer of German company, Siemens Wind Power.

Yinson selects IFS Apps for US$2m FPSO deal Yinson Holdings Berhad, headquartered in Malaysia, is a supplier of offshore support services in the upstream oil and gas sector. It has chosen IFS, is one of the world’s leading providers of business software to large and midsize companies within the oil and gas industry, to deploy IFS Applications in a deal worth US$2million for its Floating, Production, Storage, Offloading (FPSO) division, at Yinson Production which is based in Oslo, Norway.

“We chose IFS Applications because it offered us a unique project-driven, dynamic solution with industry-specific functionality,” Brad Neve, CFO, Yinson Production said.

“We are convinced that IFS Applications will help us to streamline our business, give us enhanced project control, and make our operations even more efficient.”

These two vessels will service offshore windfarm projects in the Baltic Sea, and the northern part of the German sector of the North Sea. An additional order is also underway for an additional Havyard 832 SOV, for Dudgeon windfarm which is operated by Statoil.

Havyard

All aboard the Global Xpress, China Beijing Marine Communication Navigation Company (MCN), has signed new VAR (Value Added Reseller) agreements with Inmarsat to bring Global Xpress, the world’s first globally available mobile broadband service, to China.

Inmarsat works with retail partners to provide mission critical communications services to Chinese multinational enterprises including: Air China, China COSCO, China Shipping Container Lines,

and China National Petroleum Corporation.

The country is one of the largest markets for Inmarsat’s mobile satellite-based voice and broadband services, delivering double-digit growth in the last five years. The company is confident that there will be significant demand for Global Xpress too. And now, with VAR status, MCN will be able to reach further into the maritime, aviation, enterprise, and Chinese government sectors.

KVH deal with SES enables more ships KVH Industries, a global manufacturer of maritime communications, has struck a deal with SES to enable more ships at sea with connectivity. This is a new satellite capacity agreement to connect vessels along the eastern coasts of Canada and the U.S., as well as throughout the Caribbean and GoM. KVH says that it is experiencing increasing bandwidth demands from customers for a variety of applications including M2M, remote operations monitoring, and crew welfare.

“SES and KVH are elevating the world of maritime communications, putting everything – from streamlined operations management tools to all the entertainment conveniences of home – at the fingertips of

4

ship passengers and crew,” said Elias Zaccack, senior vice president of the Americas region and head of the mobility market solutions centre for SES. Under a multi-year agreement, KVH will use Ku-band capacity aboard the SES-4 satellite to expand high-speed internet access and Voice over IP services – across its mini-VSAT Broadband network – to luxury, government, and commercial vessels. Mini-VSAT Broadband systems are enabling crew comms at sea with KVH’s new IP-MobileCast content delivery service. This uses a satellite broadband connection and multicasting technology to deliver news, sports, movies, music, and TV shows directly to the ship.

SUMMER 2015

ITC Global, Intelsat, ManSat, and ViviSat execs invited to SSPI The Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) has welcomed Chris Stott, Chairman & CEO of ManSat as its new Chairman; and Bryan McGuirk, COO of ViviSat, takes on the role of President of its Board of Directors.

Both are on one-year terms that started in March 2015. At the same time, David Kagan, President at ITC Global, and Carmen González-Sanfeliu, regional vice president, Latin America & Caribbean for Intelsat, started terms at the association as directors.

NEWS

The Quarterly - Marketplace Roundup Company announcements can be emailed to the news desk for consideration. Send your story to editor@OffCommNews.com

Hollywood helps attract skilled personnel on the high seas A new agreement for Inmarsat Maritime may help fill some of the downtime for crews offshore. NT Digital Partners, a joint venture between global content agency Spafax and the world’s largest non-theatrical distributor Swank Motion Pictures Inc., has enabled Inmarsat Maritime to bring Hollywood to the high seas via its Fleet Media service. It means that a catalogue of international blockbusters and television programming, along with sports and news content will be available to crews at sea over the Inmarsat network for on-demand, offline viewing.

Ronald Spithout, President of Inmarsat Maritime said: “This is a revolutionary service for Inmarsat and for the maritime sector. It has been uniquely designed to support the industry in attracting and retaining their skilled personnel, as it serves as a game-changing differentiating factor in recruitment. While life at sea has historically been socially isolated, this service bridges that gap allowing seafarers to be more integrated and connected with their lives ashore than ever before. Fleet Media brings life on land to those living at sea.”

HTS ‘key driver’ across energy sector over next 10yrs In its latest paper, entitled: Energy Markets via Satellite, 5th Edition, NSR finds that while near-term challenges do exist for some segments of the energy market, the long-term opportunities remain strong. In fact, in excess of US$3.8billion in retail revenues are expected from the oil and gas, mining, and utility markets by 2024.

Leveraging traditional ground equipment in GEO, and new antenna technologies for MEO

and LEO, HTS-based services will provide more than half of this revenue, driven by the necessity to improve remote operations while managing satellite connectivity costs.

The technology demo centre allows users to connect to EMC’s C-band satellite network, using a 2.4 meter antenna that’s mounted to the roof of the building. Companies can also connect to remote sites for up to three weeks; EMC engineers will design a pilot network and collaborate with the customer’s technical teams to commission the bandwidth to a designated field site – such as an offshore rig or platform.

Connecting Aberdeen data centre to 100Gb network for next-gen O&G project SSE Enterprise Telecoms – a UK provider of network infrastructure and data centre services – has unveiled plans for a new venture with cloud hosting and data centre service provider partner brightsolid, and offshore network operator, Tampnet.

SSE Enterprise Telecoms will install a Ciena

NEWS

In a move to commercialise the next generation of Ku-band maritime satellite terminals, Intellian is integrating Kymeta’s thin, flat, lightweight, electronically beamsteered mTenna antennas, which are built on metamaterial-based technology.

Intellian is a global provider of stabilized marine satellite antenna systems supporting maritime, offshore energy, defence & intelligence, and luxury yachting. Dr. Nathan Kundtz, founder, President, and CTO of Kymeta Corporation said that by working together, the companies could create “affordable products for large markets, which are currently un-addressable or are underpenetrated.”

Brad Grady, senior analyst at the firm and author of the report, said: “As we see more capacity in new orbits, frequencies and geographic coverage, energy market endusers are taking note.”

New tech demo centre, Houston, for O&G connectivity A global satellite and terrestrial communications services provider, Emerging Markets Communications (EMC), has expanded its offering in Texas to support oil and gas customers. Its new office, in Houston’s Energy Corridor at Briarpark, features a technology demo centre where companies can test applications – for both offshore and onshore field connectivity requirements – on EMC’s global satellite network.

Commercialising the next generation of maritime satellite terminals

platform which connects brightsolid’s new Aberdeen data centre to its 100Gb UK-wide network, enabling bandwidth and speed to service Aberdeen’s oil and gas industry. Via Tampnet, this connectivity also has the potential to extend to offshore oil and gas facilities in the North Sea.

SUMMER 2015

Kymeta mTenna™ Prototype: Dr Nathan Kundtz, Kymeta President and CTO (left) and Eric Sung, Intellian President and CEO.

Otto Marine charters 2 PSVs in multimillion deal with global oil major In a three-year deal, two PSVs (platform supply vessel) have been chartered by a global oil major in Australia. This deal brings Otto Marine’s net order book to approx. US$64million (AUD80million).

Michael See, group executive director at Otto Marine said: “With the over 50% plunge in oil prices, investors were cautious with the industry as a whole. While oil companies are cutting back on their capital expenditure budget, certain operational activities are still active as usual, hence there is still demand for supporting vessels from trusted business partners.”

5

Comms News

Viking CEO, Dustin Guinn, (left) signs MOU with Zion President, Victor Carrillo (right).

Deals Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Viking Services BV (“Viking”) to contract for a land-based oil and gas rig, with deep drilling capacity and crew for exploration activities within Zion’s Megiddo-Jezreel License area in Israel. Under Israeli law, Zion has an exclusive right to oil and gas exploration.

Victor G. Carrillo (pictured), Zion’s President and COO, stated: “We are excited to join forces with Viking Services, a respected international oilfield services company who can help provide integrated service solutions, with equipment and operations located throughout the Eastern Hemisphere including ongoing operations in Israel. We believe this marks the beginning of a lasting business relationship in Israel with Zion and continues to build on the operational footprint that Viking has established with other energy companies in Israel committed to the development of onshore exploration and production of oil and gas.”

Elsewhere, Infrastructure Networks, Inc. (INET), a provider of industrial LTE wireless

6

broadband services to oil and gas and other critical infrastructure industries, is deploying a pilot LTE system in the Gulf of Mexico. The project will be used to demonstrate the superior capabilities of industrial LTE wireless broadband service and coverage, when coupled with 700 MHz spectrum, that INET has leased from Verizon Wireless under the LTE in Rural America program. Partners teaming with INET on the LTE pilot include AlcatelLucent, BlackHawk Datacom and L&M Botruc Rental.

Game changer for companies and personnel operating in the Gulf Tarig Anani , CEO of Infrastructure Networks, said: "We have seen great success with our onshore business, and with the need for additional bandwidth,

real-time connectivity, and the reliability of our Industrial 4G LTE network, oil and gas companies have been requesting that we expand our coverage offshore. Our partnership approach to the Gulf of Mexico will allow us to leverage the value and expertise of our partners to deliver unrivalled high-speed bandwidth and low latency connectivity across a secure network."

One of the major advantages of LTE is its ability to provide wireless broadband service to moving vessels. Stanley Hughey, chief strategy officer of Infrastructure Networks, said, "During our study of existing communications options in the Gulf of Mexico it became apparent that surface vessels operating offshore represented a large un-served market.”

SUMMER 2015

NEWS

Comms News

Markets Managing intelligence in remote environments, on top of all the regulations, could become a little easier following AVEVA’s collaboration with EMC Corporation’s Enterprise Content Division. The two entities have created an integrated software solution for the management and control of engineering data and associated documents.

The Documentum EPFM suite addresses information management challenges throughout a project, plant or asset lifecycle - from design and construction of new facilities, to operations and maintenance and eventual decommission.

Empowering customers to gain new levels of efficiency without compromising safety and compliance “Effective management and control of asset information is critical to the success of major capital projects and efficient asset operations,” said Chris McLaughlin, CMO, EMC Enterprise Content Division.” By bringing together AVEVA NET and the EMC Documentum EPFM solution suite, OOs

NEWS

and EPCs can quickly relate data and document information, empowering customers to gain new levels of efficiency without compromising safety and compliance.”

Getting that information in and out of these places in the most efficient, secure, and reliable manner is also a challenge.

From a satcoms enablement perspective, Intelsat and Kymeta have joined forces, pairing Intelsat’s EpicNG® Global HTS satellite platform with Kymeta’s high performance metamaterials antennas, to accelerate and simplify access to costeffective satellite options for a range of applications, an important progression given the multiple opportunities opening up for connected mobility.

The exclusive development agreement is expected to lead to a range of antenna and terminal products across verticals such as maritime and aero mobility, content delivery and wireless backhaul applications.

Further, there are opportunities to reach into new verticals such as the Internet of

SUMMER 2015

Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M) and ground transportation, which are expected to experience significant demand over the next 10 years. Seattle-based, Kymeta also struck a deal with Airbus Defence and Space to touch the commercial shipping sector.

And Quicklink TX, a broadcast quality solution for Skype, has been tested and approved under Inmarsat’s Certified Application Partner (CAP) programme.

Although Quicklink TX was designed for the media sector, certification for Inmarsat’s global network enables extended reach into other Enterprise sectors, including the energy industry.

“Exposing our network to a wider group of technology partners creates an environment of innovation that will lead to tailored solutions for our Enterprise sectors,” said Nadeem Khan, head of enterprise applications enablement, market strategy and development, Inmarsat.

“Quicklink TX is a perfect example of a solution that, when combined with our network, adds significant value for our customers”.

7

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Apply cutting-edge data management and analytics strategies to production operations to turn information into decisions What You can Expect at the Data Driven Production Optimization Conference f Review the latest strategies to utilize real-time data and implement analytics to predict equipment failure and reduce downtime with Marathon Oil, SAS and Bureau Veritas f Identify gaps in which collaboration could be occurring, and understand how RTOCs can be used effectively to break down engineering silos f Understand how real-time data should be harnessed to improve safety within operations and in protecting asset integrity with OESI f Move past the spreadsheet: data visualization techniques to make better and fasterdecisions to make better and faster decisions to optimize production with engineers from Hess f Manage engineering information effectively to ensure it is delivered to the right person at the right time

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Top-level Data and Digital Perspectives Include: Brock Meyer Continuous Improvement Production Engineer, Hess Cliff McBain IT Manager (E&P Systems), Marathon Oil Stan Cullick Director, Corporate Technology, Linn Energy Gary Krushell IOF Coordinator, ConocoPhillips Philippe Flichy Senior Digital Oilfield Advisor, Baker Hughes

flash comms contracts Q1 2015 Vendor name O3b Networks RigNet

Client name Speedcast International Ltd Timas Munaicom TOO (Munaicom)

Nature Satellite Satellite

Destination Papua New Guinea Kazakhstan

SES Redline

ITC Global Undisclosed

Marlink VSAT Services Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd (GILT) Kymeta Corporation

Van Oord Delnet International Corp

Nanyang Technological University Aviat Networks Inc

Thales Alenia Space

Gilat

Intelsat

Global Data Systems O3b Networks O3b Networks Inmarsat

Mid Southern Technologies Golis Telecom Hormuud Telecommunication Cobham SATCOM

Inmarsat Inmarsat Intellian

Applied Satellite Technology Ltd (AST) Speedcast Kymeta Corporation

Level 3 Communications Connect ecosystem.

Marine Atlantic O3b Networks

Undisclosed/Confidential Mar-15 Imtech Marine Canada AvL Technologies

Wireless Satellite

Canada Undisclosed

Presta Bist Undisclosed Undisclosed

Satellite Wireless Satellite

Africa Undisclosed Israel

SES SES

SkyStream FZ LLC X2NSAT

Satellite Satellite

Middle East North America

SpeedCast International Ltd

Hermes Datacommunications International Ltd Thuraya Telecommunications Co Telesom

Satellite, Wireless Undisclosed

New deal to replace ship-to-shore wireless communication system.

Contract to provide transportable terminal antenna for MEO satellite network.

Multi-year deal to provide trunking services.

Agreement to expand the flagship private wireless technology network.

Acquisition of NovelSat NS300 satellite modems to enhance the satellite communications solution.

Partnership to expand capacity to deploy VSAT networks.

Contract to double Ku-band capacity aboard the SES-2 to power new generation ST4Gâ&#x201E;˘ broadband service.

Definitive acquisition agreement.

O3b Networks Rajant SatLink Communications

Satellite Satellite

A distributor agreement to provide satellite mobility solutions.

Multi-year agreement to use the 'Fibre in the Sky' satellite network.

SpeedCast International Ltd O3b Networks

Intelsat S.A.

Undisclosed

Details Date Agreement to provide capacity via MEO constellation.

Jan-15 Acquisition of 49% in shares to provide remote regional comms services, and further expansion in Central Asia.

Jan-15 Satellite Worldwide Deal to connect oil and gas operations around the world.

Jan-15 Satellite, Cellular Middle East US$2.6m deal to implement a wireless network for one of the largest oil producers in the Middle East.

Jan-15 Satellite Rotterdam Contract to provide high-end VSAT services for a fleet of 30 vessels.

Jan-15 Satellite, Wireless Philippines Agreement to provide a SkyEdge II network for 3G & GSM cellular backhaul for SMART Communications.

Feb-15 Satellite Undisclosed / Collaboration to design & produce flat, electronically steerable Ku-band Confidential mTenna satellite antenna solutions.

Feb-15 Satellite Singapore Collaboration to develop innovative concepts & technologies for small satellites.

Feb-15 Satellite, Wireless Worldwide Deal worth approx US$9m to provide all-indoor IRU 600 microwave radios & turnkey integration services.

Mar-15 Wireless Worldwide Partnership enables rapid deployment and high quality 2G/3G cellular connectivity to mobile network operators.

Mar-15 Satellite, Wireless Worldwide Acquisition agreement.

Mar-15 Satellite Somalia Multi-year deal to deploy a trunking solution.

Mar-15 Satellite Mogadishu & Somalia Agreement to deploy a unique satellite network connectivity.

Mar-15 Satellite, Wireless Worldwide New contract for use of Explorer 3075GX & Explorer 5075GX terminals on the Global Xpress network.

Mar-15 Satellite, Wireless Worldwide Agreement to provide GX services.

Mar-15 Satellite, Wireless Worldwide New VAR contract.

Mar-15 Satellite Worldwide Partnership commercialises world-class next generation Ku-band maritime satellite terminals.

Mar-15 Satellite, Wireless Worldwide Deal enables unified communications and collaboration applications to the Cloud

Worldwide Somalia

Mar-15 Mar-15 Mar-15 Mar-15 Mar-15 Mar-15 Mar-15 Mar-15 Mar-15 Mar-15

Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most valuable telecoms infrastructure brands Rank 2015

Rank 2014

Brand

Domicile

Brand Value 2015 (USDm)

Brand Rating 2015

Brand Value Change (%)

Brand Value 2014 (USDm)

Brand Rating 2014

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 n/a 8

Cisco Huawei Ericsson Qualcomm Alcatel-Lucent ZTE Nokia Juniper Networks Corning Harris

US China Sweden US France China Finland US US US

23,217 11,621 9,157 4,994 3,881 3,437 2,212 1,503 988 963

AAAAA AA+ AA+ AA AA AAAA AA+ AA

12% 33% 24% 15% -10% -2% 9% 12% 9% -37%

20,784 8,721 7,406 4,337 4,331 3,515 2,032 1,339 905 1,530

AAA AAAA+ AAAAAAAAA AAAAAA-

Source: Brand Finance

NEWS

SUMMER 2015

9

Industry Movers

New leaders, job creations, and expansion Havyard increases Asia focus Havyard Group ASA delivers design and equipment packages to shipping companies and shipyards in Singapore, India and China, as well as building ships for an Indian shipping company at the group's yard in Norway. In addition to Havyard Far East Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, Havyard also has an office in Shanghai in China.

Hallvard Fosnavaag has recently been appointed head of Havyard Far East and will be responsible for the markets in Asia (with the exception of China) and the Middle East. Around the same time, Lasse Stokkeland commenced his new role as the executive VP for the Ship Technology business area for Havyard Group ASA.

Hallvard Fosnavaag, (left) has been appointed as the new head of Havyard's office in Singapore and will be responsible for the markets in Asia and the Middle East.

Appointments boost M2M and Enterprise at Inmarsat Inmarsat has appointed Tim Johnson as head of Enterprise Market Strategy group; and David Wigglesworth as leader of its M2M division. Johnson was previously executive director of Iridium Communications’ land-mobile business where he was responsible for more than US$150m revenue, as well as the global distribution of its handheld products and services. Wigglesworth also joins from Iridium.

Between 2013 and 2015, he was VP and general manager for the Americas & Global M2M Services.

David Wigglesworth

Tim Johnson

“It gives me great pleasure to welcome both Tim and David to Inmarsat and the Enterprise leadership team. With their impressive industry backgrounds, extensive product and M2M experience, they are both excellent additions,” said Greg Ewert, President.

Cost reduction & efficiency on the agenda for new CEO, Oil & Gas UK The leading trade association for the UK offshore oil and gas industry has invited Deirdre Michie to be its new chief executive. She joins Oil & Gas UK, in Aberdeen, at a crucial time for the offshore sector; the trade body is currently spearheading industry collaboration on cost reduction and efficiency initiatives.

Michie’s career, previously with Shell, includes senior UK and global upstream and downstream management positions. She takes up the helm from 1 May 2015, replacing the current chief executive, Malcolm Webb, who retires at the end of that same month.

Company co-chairman, Trevor Garlick, Regional President - BP North Sea, said he was very pleased by the appointment. “Deirdre Michie’s strong oil and gas industry background will help her represent the broad spectrum of our membership, whilst also providing the strategic thinking and direction the industry needs from its trade association, especially in these challenges times.

Deirdre Michie, chief executive

New VP and GM for $72M Connected Solutions PCTEL, Inc., a leader in Performance Critical Telecom solutions, has promoted Rishi Bharadwaj to vice president (VP) and general manager (GM) of its Connected Solutions business. Connected Solutions includes the company’s antenna products, RF ancillary equipment, and Site Solutions product lines which generated more than $72 million in 2014.

Bharadwaj, who holds a patent for measuring data quality in wireless communication networks, and most recently served as VP of global sales for the company’s antenna product line. Prior to PCTEL, he developed data collection and data analytics tools for the cellular industry at Safco Technologies, and then at Agilent which later acquired Safco.

10

SUMMER 2015

NEWS

Industry Movers Intelsat ramps up exec team News of two promotions at Intelsat as Stephen Spengler officially steps into his role as CEO. The first, Kurt Riegelman has been named SVP for sales and marketing, assuming leadership for product management, marketing and global sales initiatives. Previously SVP for global sales, Kurt will help Intelsat to streamline and accelerate its go-to-market strategy to broaden its reach of existing and new applications.

And in a newly created position, Michael J. DeMarco has been named SVP of operations, leading the company’s network engineering, network operations and information system teams, including the company’s eight global teleport operations, effective immediately.

Kurt Riegelman

Michael J. DeMarco

He will be responsible for Intelsat’s information system strategy and for the delivery of the company’s end-to-end service portfolio, including the integration of the Intelsat EpicNG® platform, the first satellite of which is expected to launch in early 2016.

Thuraya adds to maritime products division Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) operator, Thuraya Telecommunications has strengthened its maritime team with the appointment of Keith Murray as maritime product manager, based in Dubai. Murray’s key tasks are to increase the penetration of the Orion IP maritime broadband terminal, and oversee the commercial roll-out of the new Atlas IP broadband terminal.

He will work with maritime market development manager Leticia Diaz Del Rio, and maritime sales manager Phoebe Wang as the company continues to provide robust communications to maritime, shipping, and offshore markets.

Murray joins from Airbus Defence and Space where he was responsible for managing the lifecycle of products and systems in the naval satellite communication segment. He has a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Heriot-Watt University.

Keith Murray, maritime product manager

Toshiba Energy Systems Corp hires first President & CEO Toshiba has chosen Ali Azad as the first President and CEO of Toshiba America Energy Systems Corporation (TAES). He will be responsible for overseeing the establishment and operation of the new company, which begins operations on 1 April 2015 employing some 500 people.

Previously, Azad was President of BHI Energy directing the company’s overall growth strategy, business development, mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. Azad holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Master of Business Administration from Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

TAES is a recently formed US-based company integrating: Toshiba International Corporation’s (TIC) thermal and hydro power business, Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (TANE) steam turbine and generator (STG) business for nuclear power systems, and Westinghouse Electric Company’s (WEC) STG business for nuclear power systems.

Ali Azad, President and CEO

SES appoints new chief development officer Christophe De Hauwer has been appointed by the Board of Directors of SES as chief development officer (CDO) and member of the company’s Executive Committee, effective 1 August 2015. Having held several positions over ten years at SES, overseeing strategic marketing, strategic and business planning and corporate development, he currently oversees the overall optimization of the entire SES satellite fleet and its future development.

De Hauwer played an instrumental role in the acquisition of New Skies (2005), the GE share redemption (2007), and the investment in O3b Networks (2009). The Belgian national and holds an Engineering degree and a PhD in Engineering from the University of Brussels in Belgium.

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Diary Dates May 12 – 13 2015 The Aberdeen Meeting 2015: Big Oil, Big Data – North Sea, Arctic & Atlantic Margin brings the GVF-EMP Oil & Gas Communications Series to its 24th event, and to the eighth annual conference in the global Series to address the communications networking imperatives of the European continental shelf region of the global ‘oil & gas patch’. The continually strengthening rationale for a Europe-oriented oil & gas communications event lays in longer-term pressures for hydrocarbons sourced from beyond the boundaries of the North Sea. URL: www.uk-emp.co.uk/current-events/o-g-comms-aberdeen-2015

May 19 – 21 2015 From Barcelona, Spain, the 17th Critical Communications World, incorporating TETRA World Congress, will welcome those at the very heart of the global Critical Communications community. Bringing international users, operators, developers, and manufacturers together, the congress will address the development and delivery of effective mission critical communications. Available on site: 200+ presentations, discussions and seminars on commercial critical communications usage and public safety; 4000+ participants; and 130+ exhibitors showcasing the latest equipment and solutions.

URL: http://criticalcommunicationsworld.com

May 26 – 27 2015 Enterprises, ISPs telcos and partners are under huge pressure to capitalise on the vast opportunities in the African market, before their competitors do. This means that they need to diversify their product offerings, streamline operational processes, improve network infrastructure and source the most reliable and innovative solutions. Connected Africa is the leading marketplace and ideas exchange for enterprises, ISPs telcos, government, leading consultants and solution providers. Co-located with: SatCom, MetroNetworks, Broadband, CarriersWorld, and Rural Telecoms.

URL: http://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/connected-africa/

May 26 – 28 2015 Join leading mobility experts to discover how to use mobile applications to enhance business and operational processes in the oil and gas industry. Major oil and gas operators and contractors, including Baker Hughes, Whiting Oil, Consol Energy, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Halliburton and Cenovus, will address these challenges in Houston, TX. Register at www.oilandgasmobility.com, or email enquire@oilandgasiq.com. Quote OGMOffcomm to claim a 15% discount today!

June 16 – 17 2015 The Data Driven Production Optimization Conference is the industry-leading forum in which experts in the field of production and operations data and analytics gather to share strategies to use operational data effectively to increase efficiency and improve production rates in your operating assets. With ConocoPhillips, Hess, Anadarko, BHP Billiton all confirmed to share their data driven best practices - this is the one digital oilfield forum not to be missed this year.

URL: www.upstreamintel.com/data-driven-production-optimization/

August 27 – 29 2015 East Africa, specifically Tanzania, has become the focus of attention as a source of new global gas supply.

Large amounts of foreign funding has been invested in the Tanzanian oil and gas industry after its discovery, making East Africa the next lucrative market in the international scenario. This event will be the hub for key players in the O&G industry, attracting leading oil, gas and petroleum companies from around the world.

URL: www.expogr.com/tanzania/oilgas/

View more about these events via our Partners page at http://offcommnews.com/partners. To maximise your presence at any of these events get in touch with our special projects division via marketing@offcommnews.com

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REMOTE INSIGHT REPORT SMARTER DIGITAL OILFIELDS

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Remote Insight Report

The smarter

EMC enabled, the Ceona Amazon

(and more cost-effective)

digital oilfield One of the few areas in which oil and gas companies may consider investing more, rather than less, money in a downturn is communications — on the basis that the right sort of communications efficiencies can save more money than they cost. But what are the right sort of communications efficiencies? Vaughan O’Grady investigates.

E

ffective communications are essential to effective working, and there are a number of different approaches on offer that can save money for remote oil and gas exploration at a time of low oil prices. Better use of satellite bandwidth, for example, might make your satellite communications investment go further.

Which is the claim of SpeedNet from EMC — Emerging Markets Communications — a provider of hybrid global satellite and terrestrial communications. This cloud-based browser enables faster browsing over satellite, and uses less bandwidth. “As a result,” says Hadassa Lutz, EMC’s President of Energy, “the corporate network performs faster, without increasing data rates, thereby reducing costs.”

SpeedNet combines both a local and a virtual browser into a single platform. This allows the cloud servers to do the ‘heavy lifting’ and relies on the client software to intelligently switch between local and cloud.

Another EMC technology that optimizes the performance of satellite connectivity is the Noise Reduction System (NRS). This enables a more efficient conversion of Mhz to Mb, improving the performance and lowering the cost.

Not surprisingly, as a managed connectivity service provider, EMC is keen to promote communications investment. As Lutz says:

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“Communications is a vital component of an offshore project and should be maintained, even during unstable market conditions.”

Joe Spytek, CEO at ITC Global, whose offering includes end-toend satellite-based networking solutions for remote, difficult environments, says his engineering teams “custom-design network solutions based on each client’s specific requirements…because we understand that every exploration, production and drilling operation has a different set of challenges.”

So where do the savings come from?

ITC Global, says Spytek, “continues to streamline the way we purchase space segment, which strengthens our ability to drive further efficiencies and develop cost-effective solutions for our customers.” However, he is clear that cost efficiencies won't mean less data use. “Demand for bandwidth will continue to grow, as will demand for efficient, reliable communications solutions,” he says.

In some parts of the world, of course, rigs can use fibre optics. But this can be an expensive investment even if you don’t own the actual network. There need to be other savings involved.

An example of such savings comes from Colin Sempill, managing director at SSE Enterprise Telecoms, a provider of network infrastructure services. He explains that in the past the limitations of satellite communications for some operators of oil and gas platforms in the North Sea meant that IT systems were placed on

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the rigs. Data analysis took place ‘on-rig’ so that only summary information needed to be sent back to the mainland.

But there is now an alternative. “SSE partner, Tampnet [operator of the largest offshore high capacity communication network in the world], has invested in a sub-sea fibre optic network that connects more than 100 offshore oil and gas platforms back to the mainland in Aberdeen,” says Sempill. He continues, “SSE Enterprise Telecoms provides the onshore connectivity to connect the offshore network into Aberdeen city and to the new brightsolid data centre, and further provides onward fibre connections to oil and gas firms in the city itself.”

Richard Higgs, CEO of cloud hosting and data centre group brightsolid, adds: “Our aim is to provide a collaborative platform for the industry where organisations can securely and cost-effectively share data whilst making sense of it.”

Sempill explains further: “The huge capacity available allows oil and gas firms to relocate server and storage equipment from rigs into the brightsolid data centre, without performance penalty, and at an affordable bandwidth cost. It also offers a great opportunity for consolidation of equipment supporting the multiple rigs in the data centre and greatly lowers operating and support costs, as onshore service provision costs less than offshore.”

Savings are also claimed by Redline Communications, a creator of wide-area wireless networks for challenging locations and mission-critical applications including, of course, oil and gas companies, which are further supported by a team of HSE-certified experts experienced in wireless and oil and gas operations.

More and more applications to improve operations become apparent as networks are deployed Leigh Chang, VP marketing for Redline, cites a number of positive impacts of networks and network-based technology in this context. They include increased production and greater efficiency, as well as improved worker safety and well-being. For example, real-time seismic drilling can be supported and enhanced by allowing data to move to and from sensors at the drill site, while multi-purpose networks at a drill site (offering voice, video and delivery of data to remote experts as well as universal access to business systems and documents) allow teams to collaborate regardless of their locations.

In addition, both remote monitoring of well sites and the ability to adjusting production parameters remotely in response to data minimize cost, reduce travel, increase efficiency, and improve worker safety. Chang, like Spytek, feels that there is no indication that the

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amount of data produced will decrease. “In fact,” he adds, “more and more applications to improve operations become apparent as networks are deployed.”

Making smart oilfields even smarter Arria NLG, by contrast is also about efficient communication but of a rather different sort as the company’s description of its area of expertise — natural language generation — indicates. Its technology is, as Arria NLG's SVP of business development, John Bell, puts it, about accelerating workflows “by getting to the language element of information much, much quicker”.

In the case of oil and gas, that means offering simple, easy to understand summaries of a possibly bewildering amount of data. Bell explains: “What we are doing with oil and gas companies is working with their key machine assets. We are monitoring things such as oil temperatures, flow rates and pressures: all the standard measures you’d expect to monitor from equipment. But rather than taking the route of graphics and charts the Arria NLG Engine goes straight to a piece of language.”

You don't need to spend hours studying and assessing visualizations and then sending out a summary. The NLG Engine can do the summarising for you. Thus, Bell suggests, “the NLG Engine goes straight to a piece of language that might say, ‘The compressor’s been running at a steady state for the last three hours.

We've seen an increase in vibration. No problem at the moment but if it continues at this rate you’re going to need to call in a maintenance engineer.’ It will just tell you that rather than someone having to analyze and interpret it for you.”

The reason this sort of offering is needed is that, while automated technology has reduced the need for engineers with clipboards to take down readings, the analyses and interpretation of so much data has arguably taken up much of the time saved. Also, as Bell points out, many of the processes around interpretation and analyses can be automated, because there will usually be only a modest number of outcomes and they can be fairly simply expressed.

Richard Higgs, CEO, brightsolid

Colin Sempill, managing director, SSE Enterprise Telecoms

John Bell, SVP business development, Arria NLG

Joe Spytek, CEO, ITC Global

The upshot could be not just financial savings but much more productive engineering staff, which ~ at a time when many oil engineers are nearing retirement and recruiting the next generation is proving difficult ~ is a useful bonus.

Thus, depending on the need and application, appropriate investment can not only cut the cost of communications but can make smarter oilfields even smarter. In addition, as Spytek says of most oil and gas companies: “Making an investment in their communications to develop efficiencies in their operations would put them in optimal position to be stronger and better prepared once the market turns.”

Leigh Chang, VP marketing, Redline

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Improving Operations Everything from narrowband/M2M data to bandwidth-hungry video conferencing applications will be brought to bear in the name of improving operations.

As the E&P sector turns its focus towards the reality of low priced crude oil, the overall result is a greater focus towards improving operations across the business, both onshore and offshore. But what does the impact mean for satcoms in the Energy markets? NSR’s Brad Grady has been investigating and shares his insight.

A bump in the road for energy As discussed in NSR’s Energy Markets via Satellite, 5th Edition report, it may just be a bump in the road through 2016-2017, with growth thereafter brought about by HTS. Onshore will be hit the strongest as crude supply and demand remain disconnected.

Without clear pricing stability and an oversupply of crude and natural gas in key markets, satellite service providers should see some consolidation amongst independent producers.

Additionally, as crude pricing favours lower production cost fields in areas such as the Eagle Ford, the market for remote communications into these areas will lean more heavily towards a terrestrial-based primary communications solutions. Without the quicker drilling tempo of an $80 barrel, and activity concentrating into the more profitable fields, the next 12 to 18 months will see a dip in satcom services demand. Those rigs that continue to operate through either longer term contracts or more profitable operations will likely see higher demand for data connectivity, but fewer rigs still means less demand.

Offshore E&P is a harder market Offshore E&P is a harder market to find a connection for, with longer term contracts weighting more heavily as well as longer

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lead-in and shut-down times dampening the link between crude pricing and satellite demand. For the offshore support vessels (OSV) market, the next few months will be challenging as seismic activity will likely remain lower than normal, and new builds continue to enter the market. However, the core market – vessels on longer term contracts or providing more sophisticated services will continue to require connectivity. And, once the market stabilizes, more vessels will mean the upward trend will pick up in more places.

Within the rigs and platforms sector, ultra-deepwater activity will likely feel some impact in the near term as greenfield projects are re-evaluated. Those projects which are still on the drawing boards will likely remain so until markets stabilize, and areas such as the Arctic will slow down as cheaper oil elsewhere remains. In the core markets of the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, terrestrial options will play a larger role as O&G end-users stick to existing fields that have well known quantities of petroleum and are within easy reach of existing assets.

Additionally, with a greater focus on ‘improving operations’ will also come a greater demand for lower latency, higher throughput connectivity options from stabilized microwave or sub-sea fibre. Yet, the market for satcom services will remain in key markets for the

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remote projects that are already under development – from near shore operations in Southeast Asia to deep-water locations in Brazil.

There will be no getting around the impact of rigs being idled, especially for onshore operations in the shale/unconventional plays. For the rigs and vessels without longer term contracts, the market will remain exceedingly difficult and end-users will need to either reduce the number of active equipment, or significantly cut day-rates. Those sites and vessels which remain active will need to become leaner, more efficient operations – a process which typically involves more data at more stages of the well lifecycle.

Improving operational efficiencies Any conversation within the Energy sector that involves “improving operational efficiencies” implicitly means “more data.” Everything from narrowband/M2M data to bandwidth-hungry video conferencing applications will be brought to bear in the name of improving operations. However, budgets will remain constrained as IT managers are told to do more with the same ~ or less.

The satellite industry is already in the process of developing a strong solution to the ‘do more with less’, with many High Throughput Satellites (HTS) launching over the next 12 to 18 months. Fitting right into the current budget constraints of O&G end-users, the ‘more bits per buck’ value proposition of HTS will help offset the traditional hesitation across the energy sector of adopting newer technologies. The satellite communications sector continues to recognize this, and continues to announce new HTS-enabled satellites across C/Ku/Ka bands in all corners of the globe, with footprints mirroring existing FSS coverage being only a question of ‘when’, not ‘if’.

With more capacity in the sky, and more pressures on the ground to reduce cost and improve operations, HTS-enabled services will become a core component of the remote energy communications puzzle. Although traditional FSS will remain (and grow as activity picks up again), the focus on improving operations and the bottom line will be a strong motivating factor for a quicker than usual adoption which will make the current downturn merely look like a bump in the road for the satellite industry.

Brad Grady, NSR

Remote Insight Report â&#x20AC;&#x153;Underlying any digital oilfield is an integrated communications system that is reliable, resilient, cost-effective, robust, and secure.â&#x20AC;?

Dr Jan Noordhof, principal consultant, Tait Limited

T Communicating in the Digital Oilfield In the near future, extraction companies will be rethinking the plethora of single-function bearers and applications that many exploration and extraction companies currently operate, by Dr Jan Noordhof for Tate Limited.

T

he future for the digital oilfield is to deliver business efficiencies, by bringing the field to the operator ~ rather than the operator to the field. Underlying any digital oilfield is an integrated communications system that is reliable, resilient, cost-effective, robust, and secure.

Oil and gas producers are facing challenges in controlling costs, locating new, harder-to-reach sources, meeting increasinglystringent regulatory and environmental guidelines, as well as developing and maintaining business in politically unstable countries. Oil companies also face a volatile market, so they need to work smarter. By unifying their critical communications, they stand to gain: greater coverage, more efficient operations, increased end user productivity and safety, increased cost savings, enhanced interoperability, and greater resiliency. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a big list.

Facing up to the digital challenge Oil and gas producers face a volatile market, challenges in controlling costs, locating new, harder-toreach sources, meeting increasingly-stringent regulatory and environmental guidelines, as well as developing and maintaining business in politically unstable countries.

Oil companies are investigating the concept of a Digital Oilfield, to integrate their business operations using advances in communications technology. But no single technology can fully

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service this integration, when companies must consider cost, coverage, spectrum availability, bandwidth, latency, ease of deployment, and flexibility.

The solution lies in unifying multiple technologies: an integrated mix of different communications technologies, ranging from VSAT satellite, to WiMax or LTE broadband, to WiFi, cellular, and digital LMR, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

The digital oilfield and the IoT The Internet of Things involves physical devices communicating directly with each other - machine-to-machine - without human intervention. In the digital oilfield, smart elements such as sensors, measuring devices, and actuators embedded in drills or wellheads exchange data in real time, so they can be monitored, integrated, configured, optimized, and managed; even manage themselves. A wireless network connects these elements, and, utilizing purposebuilt applications, sends their combined and integrated data to servers for storage, retrieval, processing and analysis.

Millions of smart elements can be sending real-time data 24/7, so datasets and data flow can be huge. Since a single rig can generate one terabyte of data each day, the total amount of data that passes through a digital oilfield can be potentially petabyte-sized (1015 bytes) or larger per day.

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The digital oilfield manages the actual field digitally, largely automatically, and in some cases, fully remotely. In a control room, personnel see and interact with an accurate virtual representation of the field and all its components. Field data is processed continuously in real time, with applications automating decisionmaking, performing predictive analyses, reacting to alarms, and monitoring and controlling production process – with or without human intervention.

Remotely controlling operations in real-time The degree of real-time control that operators can exercise is remarkable. For example, with Remote Drilling, data such as bit RPMs, circulation solids, and downhole pressures are captured by a Measurement-While-Drilling (MWD) system, integrated, LoggedWhile-Drilling (LWD), and sent to an operator who can remotely steer the downhole tools. The result is more accurate drilling, optimized path and drilling processes in real time, and significantly less reliance on specialists and service personnel onsite in isolated locations.

Capabilities of the digital oilfield include: SCADA networks that directly manage facility process systems e.g. by controlling pumps and valves; Real-time surveillance of production system performance and reservoirs; And, on-site field staff and offsite experts collaborating remotely to share information via voice, data, and real-time video, to improve the quality and speed of decision-making.

What lies ahead for the digital oilfield Estimates from the recent digital oilfields World Summit suggest that in 2015, the digital oilfield services market will have grown by 40% to more than $3.18 billion. The bottom-line benefit of deploying these services is projected to be a 25% increase in the net present value to: reduce E&P costs and shorten schedules; raise productivity; slash downtime (which can cost up to several million US dollars per day); make better use of the shrinking pool of experienced technical staff; improve worker safety and health; extend the lifetime of ‘brown fields’ (which previously would have reached the end of their economic life); undertake more complex projects to access reserves in difficult environments.

The vital role of telecommunications Underlying any digital oilfield is an integrated communications system that is completely reliable, resilient, cost-effective, robust, and secure. Field telecommunications are critical to the success of digital oilfield services. Here’s a checklist of considerations: 1. All devices in the digital oilfield must be physically robust including communications equipment. They must comply with UL/cUL C1D2, ATEX Zone 2, IECEx, DNV, and ABS hazardous and environmental standards.

2. Network design must guarantee high availability with end-toend redundancy, since the efficiency consequences and economic cost of an outage is substantial.

3. Network architecture must be flexible to adapt to the differing requirements at each phase of an E&P project. For instance, mobility requirements will be highest for onshore exploration and high for offshore exploration, but diminish considerably during production.

4. Field backhaul and field access communications require a mixture of wired and wireless connections due to performance requirements, geographical location, cost etc.

5. The architecture must integrate the wide variety of technical requirements presented by each element – from drilling rigs to operation centres and enterprise systems.

6. The digital oilfield is built around big data management. The network may need very high bandwidth connections capable of transferring large datasets continuously.

7. For monitoring and control, the network may need to support connections with very low latency connections – that is, 35 milliseconds or less.

The digital oilfield services market will have grown by 40% to more than $3.18 billion this year.

Dynamic communications It’s not just oil or gas field exploration and extraction operations that stand to benefit from the real time communications network either.

The field activity, associated with these operations, can benefit significantly from dynamic communications networks. For example, for Hydrocarbons delivery and quality: Instrumentation, SCADA, project management and field automation; Safety and security: Emergency communications, go-ahead message broadcasts, access control, as well as environment monitoring and video protection; and for Operations and living: where workforce management and collaboration, cyber security, infrastructure supervision, control centre, and employee infotainment come in to play.

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News

Leosat announces intentions, and EMC acquires GIS Founded by former Schlumberger executives Cliff Anders and Phil Marlar, Leosat LCC has been developing network architecture, spectrum planning, and satellite payload since 2013. This low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation will provide worldwide coverage and sets new standards in satellite Vern Fotheringham performance.

The company has just chosen Vern Fotheringham as its chief executive officer. Fotheringham was most recently Chairman and CEO of Kymeta Corporation, and has collected more than 30 years of experience in the broadband wireless and satcoms industry. His role is to introduce Leosat to the global satellite industry, the international financial community, and the customer market for a range of new services.

“This is an exciting time in the satellite industry, with technology driving increased demand, costs coming down and several notable players such as Google, SpaceX and OneWeb helping to fuel the

category,” said Christopher Baugh, president and founder of NSR, a satellite industry consulting company. “Leosat is positioning its service offerings primarily on potentially lucrative business and government market opportunities. There is a big international market to be served by a unified global broadband network with significant revenue potential at stake.”

Elsewhere, Emerging Markets Communications (EMC) acquired General Industry Systems (GIS) AS, a Norwegian-based provider specialising in energy and maritime connectivity services for offshore operations.

EMC enables connectivity and systems integrations services to support a variety of offshore assets including platform rigs, FPSOs, jack-ups, drilling ships, semi-submersibles and offshore support vessels. The consolidated portfolio of products, services, experience, locations, and engineers of both companies will strengthen EMC’s energy and maritime business segments on a global scale.

Analytics on the go NavPort, a data analytics solution provider for the unconventional oil and gas industry, has brought out a mobile app. It’s free to use and offers a convenient way to create visualizations of drilling and completion data ~ from a mobile device.

Available for download in the Google Play and Apple stores, it enables users to explore drilling and completion activity in the U.S. and Canada, gleaning market intelligence and competitive insight, to the benefit of: business development, completion engineers, supply chain or logistics professionals, and even investment analysts.

Features include: creating quick data summaries and map visualizations; analyzing of market share data and trends in completion activity; identifying key relationships between well service providers and operators; determining strategic customer and geographic growth opportunities; and evaluating potential proppant and/or chemical distribution points.

Better decision making for unconventional oil and gas – via app “Launching the NavPort Mobile App was the next logical step in our continued efforts to better provide advanced data and analytics to industry professionals,” said Eric Foster, president of NavPort.

“We pride ourselves on delivering business information that helps companies active in unconventional oil and gas make better decisions, and our new mobile tool delivers analytics on the go. In a challenging oil price environment, companies need access to data in the field in addition to that provided by our award-winning web analytics application.” www.navport.com for more information on NavPort and the NavPort mobile app.

NTT Communications enters global M2M / IoT market For those able to utilise mobile networks for operations, NTT Communications Corporation* (NTT Com) has extended its global M2M portfolio. The service, Arcstar Universal One Mobile, now combines globally integrated mobile networks with NTT Com’s virtual private network for economical and secure M2M connections.

Arcstar Universal One Mobile offers the global M2M footprint vital to global and cross-border M2M business. Low-cost data and SMS services will be available through partner mobile networks in some 200 countries, including APAC and major

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industrial nations, where the M2M / IoT market is expected to grow. By offering a global SIM that is pre-provisioned and ready to use, NTT Com will reduce the complexity of installing and deploying M2M. For security, the system connects directly to the mobile networks of NTT Com partners. This means that data from devices is transmitted securely without going across the internet.

Seamless, secure connection to NTT Com’s cloud computing service for M2M

data storage and application development will be provided at no additional cost. *An ICT solutions and international communications business, within the NTT Group

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INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVE:

Guaranteeing the continuity of critical data

Bob Legg, business manager for Offshore Markets, iOra

Increasing engineering complexity and regulatory requirements are combining to present the Oil & Gas sector with unique challenges at the edge of the network.

The oil and gas sector is rife with regulations ~ with good reason. The challenge is ensuring that the right people have access to up-to-date data whenever it’s required. Failure to do so can run up thousands of dollars per day in NPT. Georgina Elrington spoke with Bob Legg, business manager for Offshore Markets at iOra (pictured), to find out what can be done to guarantee the continuity of critical data.

OCN: So, in your opinion, what do customers want from their remote networks today?

BL: When operating at the edge of the network, clients want to ensure continuity of operations/comply with regulations; safeguard the safety and integrity of their people and assets; and make their offshore and remote locations just like any other office. The main market areas impacted by network disparity include: maritime, offshore oil & gas, and the military, as well as mining and construction ~ particularly in developing countries.

OCN: How does iOra define the network edge?

BL: We define it as a breakdown of the expected norms of service levels for corporate and internet services; whereby bandwidth is below that required/desired, is unreliable; where latency can rise and make networks unusable; or where network links become totally unavailable.

While network bandwidth is indeed increasing, so is the volume and complexity of applications, data, and regulatory requirements required for exploration and mining. In the maritime industry, the increase of regulations for operations, Safety Management Systems, crew welfare, digitalisation of vessel systems, and route optimisation all demand an increasing flow of information.

OCN: Where does iOra come in?

BL: iOra ensures that critical corporate data is replicated to the locations where it is required ~ ready to be accessed by those who need it ~ even when the link goes down. Through smart, patented mathematics and logic we are able to synchronise terabytes of data over satellite, RF, GSM, and WiFi links. The files are so small they can “thread the camel through the eye of the needle” so to speak.

The efficiency of the network link becomes optimised in terms of cost ~ and the volumes of data are dramatically reduced.

OCN: Can you explain further with some examples?

BL: Sure. We’re helping a major independent oil company ensure that its upstream emergency response plans are up to date to the field. We also have two tanker fleets synchronising Safety Management Systems from the shore to the vessels. A major drilling company is synchronising well logging data from the field to HQ to support decision making between head office and the field teams concerning well status and production levels. We’re also working with a Middle Eastern National Oil Company to replicate data and CAD drawings from its Engineering Data Management System to/from its offshore rigs in SE Asia.

OCN: What are the potential consequences of documentation not being in place at the right time?

BL: When an investigation into an incident starts, it examines if all laws and regulations have been adhered to, which comes down to the question: “Was everything that could reasonably be done, done?” Failure to do so can cause fatalities, shutdowns, impounding of vessels and equipment, fines and even imprisonment. Anticipating the impact of unpredictable network issues can act like an insurance policy in these instances.

OCN: Do you have any advice for the industry?

BL: If conditions are sufficiently extreme all wireless network links can be found wanting. By planning ahead for possible network outages iOra will pre-provision critical information where it is needed ~ be that every five minutes, every day, or every month.

www.iora.com

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Product News

Intrinsically safe Android 4.4 smartphone A new family of smartphones suitable for use in Division 1, Zone 1/21 & Division 2, Zone 2/22 is being launched for worldwide use, by ecom, The new intrinsically safe Smartphone Smart-Ex® 01, and Featurephone Ex-Handy 09, can help to address mobile worker collaboration, safety and security for those in hazardous industries such as: oil & gas, refining, chemical, and pharmaceuticals.

The 4G/LTE enabled Smart-Ex® 01 Smartphone helps to simplify and streamline the way mobile workers operate and interact with each other, their remote experts, and the backend systems. This helps to enable improved decision making, reduces risk, work time and cost.

Capabilities supported include man-down

alarm notification, online documents, digital photos video, video streaming, integrated flashlight for poorly lit areas, and interfaces to wireless headsets and Bluetoothenabled data collection devices.

For users who need a more advanced mobile phone, but not a smartphone, might like the look of the Ex-Handy 09 Featurephone. It provides both push-button and touch screen capabilities, plus the performance and connectivity to support Android applications such as Lone Worker Protection, Push-to-Talk and other industrial apps. The device can be updated to prevent malware and other unwanted threats.

ecom’s intrinsically safe android 4.4 smartphone Smart-Ex(R) 01

Larger screens for hazardous areas As 4G/LTE is increasingly adopted within hazardous areas, ecom’s Tab-Ex® helps to ensure that access to capabilities is fast, enabling users with quick access to the information needed to perform the task at hand.

The state-of-the-art tablet GALAXY Tab Active offers IP67 Water & Dust Resistance, Anti-shock 1.2m Drop Test as well as easy handling and lightweight and an auto-focus camera (with flash) for barcode scanning. Related accessories and peripherals enable broader use, and there is global certification for use in hazardous areas.

Images: ecom instruments.

The screen allows better visibility for complex analysis and trending charts ~ such as those used for Condition Monitoring and Vibration Analysis. Available from ecom Instruments, the device supports operator driven reliability programs. For example, built-in cameras and wireless capabilities allows equipment defects to be captured, as inspection and maintenance work is executed, making it instantly visible to those who need to diagnose and determine follow-on actions. Further, team leaders can be notified of plant changes from plant automation systems or drilling systems, with the ability to remotely view (and interact with) real-time schematics.

Tab-Ex® can operate on sites with WiFi only access or no wireless access ~ depending on carrier and regional availability ~ preventing the need for infrastructure updates. As before, the latest Bluetooth standards are supported.

New series of VSAT routers bring 50% reduction in satellite bandwidth The ‘Series 7000’ is a new family of VSAT modems, from Advantech Wireless, designed to help operators striving for tangible, multiservice solutions. The hardware provides 50%+ reduction in the satellite bandwidth thanks to A-SAT-IITM Bandwidth Optimized Satellite System technology.

The routers can support Star, Mesh, and hybrid architectures with dual modulator

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and dual demodulator units for any frequency band (L, S, C, X, Ku, Ka).

There are multiple modem models for different market applications and verticals, including: cellular backhauling, SCADA, oil and gas, enterprise and corporate, maritime and cruise lines, in-flight-entertainment, homeland security, military and mobility.

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Interview Exclusive: Globalstar

Absolute Mobility For a decade, Globalstar has toiled to make affordable devices smaller, lighter, with greater functionality for those working in remote locations worldwide.

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reat products need a great price to help drive uptake and become successful. Jay Monroe, CEO at Globalstar is someone that clearly appreciates this. His company has grown six-fold since 2004, by enabling cost-effective, connected products for remote users.

“In 2004 we had 100,000 customers. Today we have about 700,000 customers. If you consider how that happened, against the backdrop of all the satellite constellation problems that were only remedied in 2013, it’s staggering. It’s an amazing forward-march.”

OCN: So what exactly does Globalstar offer companies working out of remote locations?

JM: Operating satellites at 14,000 kilometers, instead of 32,000 km high, means that Globalstar is characterized by absolute mobility.

We have made our way by delivering inexpensive solutions for everyone ~ as opposed to very expensive options available to just a few. That’s been our bias since the early 2000s. If our customers can afford it, they’ll use more of it. So our business is to drive down the cost of the equipment, drive down the cost of airtime, and have people think of our remote comms enablement more like using a cell phone. We were also the first to create bundled plans.

Users can now buy, for example, a thousand minutes a month ~ which is a fixed cost to Globalstar and one that is relatively low.

“If our customers can afford it, they’ll use more of it.”

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Further, across the entire suite of Globalstar products, we wanted to increase the functionality. Configuring services from our ground infrastructure, we brought out a series of products for tracking and emergency scenarios. Our highest profile product is SPOT which enables the tracking of a person or an asset. It also has a global SOS button so that, should an emergency arise, our dispatch centre calls the closest local rescue organization to assist. In fact, SPOT has saved 3,500 people to date. We don’t care if you fell off of a rig or off a weekend fishing-trip boat; push that button and we’re coming to get you. And it only costs US$100.

OCN: That must be very comforting for those in extreme environments. What about for assets?

JM: We have another product in the US$100 class, called Trace.

When a Trace-enabled asset is stationary it doesn’t transmit. As soon as it moves transmission starts. So, for those with remote assets ~ like stored generators for example ~ that suddenly start moving, you can anticipate that it’s either headed to a jobsite or being stolen.

The thing is, in a terrestrial wireless scenario, these devices are ubiquitous because they’re inexpensive and relatively available and you can monitor such activity with an iPhone. But you can’t do that so well remotely, or economically, except via Globalstar. Accounting for the oceans, about 90% of the planet has no terrestrial wireless or other coverage at all, that’s a big market.

OCN: How do you transport that information?

JM: Okay so those tracking devices are entirely internet-activated and internet-information delivered. For small-bit information, such as M2M data or emergency information, the beep goes up in the North Sea, bounces off a satellite and then goes to our gateway in France. From there it’s transmitted across a proprietary network that connects all of our gateways, 25 of them more or less, around

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Interview Exclusive: Globalstar

the world. That information goes through a secure and private network and gets delivered as necessary.

Telephone calls go the same way, from the North Sea up to the satellite down to the French gateway. From there it is either dropped into the public switch network and delivered to the receiver; or, more often, once that call arrives at our gateway we terminate it via VoIP, like Skype, and then deliver it to Manila or Rangoon or wherever ~ without involving the local telco.

When you do it this way, the cost of that minute might drop from a dollar to a cent, which circles back to our core belief that if you make the product and the service much less expensive, more people will be able to avail themselves to it.

OCN: As we venture to drill in deeper waters, more remote land locations, and deeper down mines do you think technology will change?

JM: Absolutely. More and more data will be delivered over satellite, period. Canada is a great example for this: 10% of it is covered by cellular networks. That’s all, just 10%. While that covers almost everyone in Canada, as most live in major cities close to the US border, it doesn’t take care of industrial activity in terms of extraction, forestry, oil and gas, mining and beyond. All of that takes place in the 90% of the country that doesn’t have cellular coverage.

Further, when you get to the sophisticated, expensive equipment to mine or drill today, those assets need to be monitored back at HQ. Mistakes can be expensive ~ as well as dangerous ~ so there’s a massive amount of data going back and forth. When you then consider those driving thousands of miles to monitor, say,

200 sites a day and staying in overnight camps during the process, they need a mobility option for voice, small-bit data, and tracking. That’s where Globalstar makes its entire living.

OCN: What separates Globalstar in terms of its offering?

JM: I believe that we’re different because we offer the total package. Many other companies are providers of the bandwidth that others build products for. We operate both ways, and that is to say we operate by building and designing and initiating our own products. As a result, we can quickly adapt to whatever the market needs. I want to share one such example with you, because in the world of mobility and in the world of communications, I really truly believe that what I’m about to describe fundamentally alters communications on the planet.

OCN: That’s a big statement, please do tell us more.

JM: It’s a device called Sat-Fi 2, which won’t be released until the beginning of 2016 when our new ground infrastructure can see it. And that will happen thanks to new chip architecture, amongst other elements. It’s about the size of a computer mouse and will turn anybody’s cell phone, laptop, tablet, in fact any device that has WiFi in it, into a satellite phone.

Imagine a little town on a tiny island in Indonesia where anybody, with a smartphone and this new device, will be able to communicate for the first time over satellite where no terrestrial network exists. You can fundamentally alter communications on the planet with that. It’s a logical progression ~ and an amazing one.

www.globalstar.com

A small device with big ambitions Globalstar’s technology enables government, oil & gas, marine, natural resource, and emergency response users to stay connected when cellular coverage is not available.

subscribers can send and receive email, SMS, and make voice calls just like they would normally from their devices. Sat-Fi launches in EMEA at the end of April 2015. European offerings will be announced later in the year.

Available now, Sat-Fi is a powerful satellite ‘hotspot’ that enables up to eight users at once via their own tablets and smartphones.

Boasting affordable, mobile satellite data speeds 4x faster than other industry offerings, it works through a smartphone app which enables connectivity between any WiFi-enabled device and the Sat-Fi satellite hotspot. From there,

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Feature Vaughan O’Grady

THE DRIVING FORCES BEHIND THE FUTURE OF REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS • Broadband for real-time • Reliability • Price • Stability • QoS

Deliberating tomorrow’s services The status of remote comms demands today OffComm News investigated how selling services in our sector has evolved over the last five years; and what customers want from their remote networks today. Vaughan O’Grady summarizes for us in this article.

Flexibility Gavan Murphy, marketing director EMEA for Globalstar, a provider of mobile satellite voice and data services, said: “Flexibility is paramount, both in terms of devices and billing.” The ability to BYOD (bring your own device) to work sites is not just good for in-company communications, he pointed out. It can also make for more satisfied employees “as they are getting and relaying information in near real-time.”

Globalstar customers also want the ability to split communications costs by department and employee and require personal communications split out even further, something the company has responded to with its Shared Pre-paid cards and Sat-Fi Vouchers offerings.

Crew Welfare The need to address crew welfare, as well as business efficiency, was also implied by comments from Chris McIntosh, CEO of

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communications and security company ViaSat UK, who said: “The growth of smartphones and tablets has led to the desire (and often the business need) for always-on connectivity and increasing data demand to service a wealth of applications.” In certain circumstances this will need to be met by satellite services and, he said: “Until fairly recently this has been viewed as hugely expensive and the preserve of major corporations and governments, but satellite connectivity continues to change.”

Sophistication Peter Crafter, sales director at NSSLGlobal, an independent service provider of satellite communications and IT support, summarised his view of changing customer demands briefly but precisely: “More sophistication ~ e.g. meshed WiFi, push to talk, higher bandwidth on satellite backhaul, point to point line of sight connectivity, redundancy and IP mobility,” he said.

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Feature Lower prices

Differentiation

Dan Zajicek, CEO of Gilat Satcom, a communication solutions provider that offers satellite and fiber-based connectivity in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, cited: additional customer demands, including a working business model, reliable connectivity, reasonable prices and a scalable service that grows with the business. However, he also addressed the more general question of how selling services in the remote communications sector has changed, highlighting in particular the price drop of satellite services and equipment that enables new customers to access the internet. From Gilat’s point of view there are also new business models that, he said, “allow us to build long term relationships with potential customers in the rural areas and support them, mainly in the mining industry where there is a long term presence.”

It’s also a more competitive market. Murphy suggested that this is “primarily as a result of MSS companies expanding their land-based applications and footprint, developing new and more affordable hardware as well as expanding on the BYOD concept.” Also, he noted, “value added manufacturers are expanding their marketable footprint by collaborating with MSS and GSM operators on dual-mode WiFi and Simplex M2M devices.”

ViaSat’s McIntosh noted that most markets have a variety of solutions — terrestrial, wireless and satellite, say — depending on the environment that the user is operating in. The skill is being able to blend the network so that this variety is not noticeable on the user device, and the applications simply continue to work as intended. It’s not easy.

“Behind this is a great deal of complexity including differing standards, codes of connection and business and billing models — often from various suppliers through a service provider,” he said.

WHAT ELEMENTS OF A REMOTE NETWORK REQUIRE MORE CONSIDERATION TODAY IN TERMS OF CONTINUED SERVICE PROVISION? Murphy argued that fibre and VSAT are typically the communications of choice for remote worksites.

However, he suggested that MSS is ~ and has been ~ considered as a viable back-up and sometimes the only means of communications. “It really comes down,” he said, “to how long the site will be operational, communications requirements and the cost/benefit of installing a costly VSAT system as against a low-cost MSS device.”

Viasat’s McIntosh said: “Remote users want reliable access 24/7 with simple terminals and operation, good throughput and value for money,” adding that “by using the right technology, the cost of accessing satellite services drops to consumer level models.”

But there’s a caveat. “Since so much corporate and personal data is transmitted daily it needs protection and so users are increasingly demanding security,” he said.

Interoperability between GSM and MSS has yet to be fully ironed out.

For Crafter of NSSLGlobal there is a brief but imposing list that includes “scalability, up-time, remote maintenance, seamless integration and backup/failover.” But of course clients themselves often have rather long wish lists. What would be at the top of them? Zajicek summed it up as “prices, stability and quality of service,” while Murphy cited clarity (“i.e. zero-latency”), along with affordability and reliability. He added, “I would say interoperability between GSM and MSS has yet to be fully ironed out.”

Digital oil field market worth $38.49b by 2024*

Gavan Murphy, marketing director EMEA, Globalstar

ViaSat’s McIntosh put increasing capacity to meet growing information needs at the very top of the average client wish list. “A 30 per cent year-on-year growth in information needs is seen as an accepted figure for government and commercial users,” he pointed out.

Real-time operations

Chris McIntosh, CEO, ViaSat UK

For NSSLGlobal the list is headed by bandwidth “to enable real-time operations,” reliability “to provide the confidence to run real-time operations” and value for money “through greater working efficiencies, e.g. less human resource expertise needed in the field.”

It seems certain that the ability of communications technology to do more in more places, combined with the need, in a competitive and cost-conscious world, to mechanise and automate workflows on rigs, in mines, and on ships (especially when recruitment is also a problem), is going to guide many a remote communications enablers’ thinking in the years to come.

Peter Crafter, sales director, NSSLGlobal

Major themes to note Two major themes are clear from all the answers we received, however. Always-on broadband connectivity is, or will soon become, a necessity; and demand for capacity is just going to grow, led by changing endusers’ needs, which are in turn led by access to more sophisticated but easily portable and relatively lowpriced devices. Innovation and demand are still driving the remote communications future.

Dan Zajicek, CEO, Gilat Satcom

*Markets and Markets: September 2014 report ~ Digital Oil Field Market by Services (Automation & Instrumentation: DCS, SCADA, PLC, Smart Well & CPM; IT Services: Outsourcing, Equipment & Software) & by Processes (Reservoir, Production & Drilling Optimizations) - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2024

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Opinion Martin Jarrold, Chief, International Programme Development, GVF

Calling the Oil Industry Now is not the time to cut communication budgets Martin Jarrold, Chief at GVF, considers the effect of falling oil prices on current and future exploration and development plans.

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xisting oil production worldwide has been declining by around 4% to 5% per year, and the industry has been confronted with the task of keeping production growth just barely positive, which is almost impossible if oil prices remain low.

The industry was already cutting back on exploration budgets before the current price trend set in, saying that there were not enough profitable prospects available ~ even at US$100 per barrel.

So what happens in exploration and development budgets with oil prices now around a US$50 average? Without exploration there can be no new production; and without new production, oil supply falls.

Lower prices could force oil companies to reconsider some investments.

Low oil prices will make it even harder to secure future oil supplies.

With supplies shrinking, as demand for oil recovers (as it inevitably will), we will be witness to another cyclical price spike that might severely and negatively impact the global economy.

However, Brazil, for example, has denied that the current slump in the oil price threatens its potential to fully yield on its pre-salt reserves. Petrobras officials are on record saying that they can still make a profit from its ultra-deep wells even if oil dropped to around US$45 a barrel, which it now has.

Brazil still aims to be among the world's top five global oil producers by 2020, expecting to be producing four million barrels per day by that time. But to hit that ambitious target, Petrobras will have to overcome financial and technical challenges.

Output from the pre-salt fields has now passed 500,000 barrels per day, nearly tripling the 2012 volume, and accounting for nearly a quarter of the company's total production of two million barrels per day. Production gains in pre-salt fields are needed to offset declines in production at Petrobras' mature fields.

Environmental permit delays may set back some of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s offshore drilling activities, and with oil prices having fallen to their current low levels, oil firms are seeking to cut costs and improve efficiencies. Lower prices could force oil companies to reconsider some investments.

Pre-salt oil has undoubtedly reshaped Brazil's energy industry, with more deep water oil rigs, supply vessels, and floating production and storage units operating in the region than anywhere else in the world, according to research firm IHS. To get at this oil there, Petrobras has invested billions of dollars on research, new 3-D imaging technology, an improved shipping fleet and bigger helicopters to get workers and equipment to the fields.

As elsewhere, Brazilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oil & gas sector faces many challenges which arise from operations in some of the most dangerous, harsh, and remote environments on Earth. The industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commercial and operational centres require a range of means to communicate with exploration and production (E&P) rigs and platforms, and to draw information from computer applications, mission-critical equipment, and other in-field infrastructure.

The communication imperative Robust communication is an imperative in permitting key personnel to maintain all-round contact between field workers, senior operations management, and expert decision makers in other locations; and for facilitating the relaying of decisions and instructions based on data streams from sources such as drilling equipment, seismic sensors, and security applications installations. Now is not the time to compromise on the mission-critical role of communications connectivity in maximising the potential of E&P operations.

See our feature on how cost savings on connectivity can help, on page 14 28

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BENEFITS OF ATTENDING: • Understand the current key market regulations to set a new standard across the industry • Discover how you need to operate to create a safer environment • Discuss how the industry needs to develop in North America • Evaluate live demos on how to block oncoming attacks and minimise the clean up • Hear about the latest technology and software available • Listen from leading case studies and understand what lessons have be learned

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Case Study

Operational Reporting and Data Analysis A provider of web-based reporting services to the upstream oil and gas industry, Independent Data Services, reached to the cloud with NTT Communications.

Complicated hardware maintenance and reliability issues across multiple sites IDS (Independent Data Services) maintained a complicated hardware infrastructure. The company faced uncertain usagereliability of servers in the legacy system due to complexity in delivery across multiple data centres. It needed a single, intuitive, global customer portal to reduce infrastructure complexity and to streamline the delivery of solutions to ensure accurate operational reporting to oil and gas operators, drilling contractors and service companies located around the world.

It also needed to increase its network capacity to provide a growing client portfolio with the fastest and most reliable operational reporting solutions. Scalable service linkage between worldwide connections was a key challenge in achieving a seamless process.

Enterprise cloud reduces complexity and delivers seamless connectivity In its selection process, IDS prioritized partners with global integrated ICT network and cloud capabilities that could address the need for scalability and mobility responding to business growth.

NTT Comâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enterprise cloud was selected due to its extensive distribution of POPs around the world ~ and a resilient backend network which has the capability to deliver optimal consistent latency results. Teaming up with NTT Com Security, IDS has also enhanced its security capabilities with active threat management to match the levels required by its business.

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Capacity increased at a level cost while capabilities increased without the need for hardware investment, resulting in higher resilience In just a few months, IDS increased its capacity at a level-cost by choosing NTT to consolidate its data servers. By reducing the amount of hardware and unused capacity, they were able to increase capabilities without additional hardware investment, thereby maximizing cost savings. With a more flexible and scalable architecture, IDS is able to dynamically manage resources according to demand and workloads. Lastly, with highly resilient and reliable global network, and integrated software defined networking (SDN), IDS was able to connect and use the network securely with noted vast increase in resilience.

Challenges Complicated hardware maintenance and reliability issues across multiple sites.

Solution Adoption of NTT Comâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enterprise cloud reduces complexity and delivers seamless connectivity.

Benefit Capacity increased at a level cost; capabilities increased without hardware investment; higher resilience.

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Alexander Benitez, Senior Scientist, ComSource Inc

Article

Exploring satellite for deploying effective real-time network services for oil & gas industry demands

By Alexander Benitez, Senior Scientist for ComSource Inc., a Globecomm company.

In today’s hyper-connected world, high bandwidth, low latency terrestrial networks supporting Real-Time (RT) or Near Real-Time (NRT) applications have become the accepted norm by wellconnected users. But, network services delivered over satellites in geostationary orbits (GEOSATs) present a viable solution for the rural and offshore environments in which the oil and gas industry operates.

The suitability of satellite-based transport solutions for latencydependent applications comes down to understanding the physics behind the latency, closed- loop operations and the applications.

First, let’s look at the physics. Due to the finite speed of propagation of an electromagnetic wave in free space, the RoundTrip Time (RTT) of an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request and reply, also known as a ping, between two ground terminals over a GEOSAT ranges from 480 ms to 570 ms.

When transferring files over an Internet Protocol (IP) based network, the impact of nearly 500 ms latency is felt in closed-loop operations associated with everything from flow control to file transfers. Within IP’s Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), flow control is handled by a 16-bit Receiver Window Buffer. The buffer keeps track of the number of bytes that can be sent, without acknowledgement, up to a maximum value of approximately 216 bytes, or 64 kB. For the communications protocol to be efficient, the ether between the ground stations must be kept full of data over the period of time it takes for the receiving station to receive and process the first tranche of data, then acknowledge receipt of data back to the sending station.

The exact number of bits in transit is given by the product of bandwidth and RTT, also known as the Bandwidth Delay Product (BDP). In the case of a standard implementation of TCP, BDPs greater than 64 kiB value for the receiver window will reduce the effective throughput of the link.

The approximate formula is: Effective_Throughput = (Receive_Window / BDP) * bandwidth

Options A common solution to this bandwidth limiting effect involves installing a network appliance, to remove the constraint imposed by the small receive window buffer, by swapping out the TCP protocol with a proprietary one. These appliances are known as TCP Accelerators, WAN Optimizers, or Application Accelerators. They can also transform the sequential transfer of a set of small files into one where the files are transferred in parallel, to minimize the impact of waiting for the individual file open and close operations as data is written.

Encryption protocols suites, such as IPsec, may require a full 6-message handshake (e.g. IKE Main Mode). Web based cryptographic protocols such as TLS will also require multiple handshakes that will also involve a X.509 Certificate Server. The result of the multiple handshakes required to setup an encrypted link is an operational pause of approximately 1.5 to 3.0 seconds before any user data flows across a newly established encrypted link.

Remote drilling applications in the oil and gas industry can be modeled as a Proportional-Integral-Differential (PID) controller, where the increased latency appears as a phase shift in the error value in the control loop. Of course, an engineering analysis must be performed to determine its ultimate suitability, but in many RT applications, such as piloting drones in aviation, the latency experienced over a GEOSAT can be accommodated by careful tuning of the PID parameters, making the system responsive and stable.

In all but the most demanding RT application, network services delivered over GEOSATs can still meet user requirements with a carefully engineered, end-to-end system. Satellite-based network services still provide the desired bandwidth and expected performance at a great value.

flash new builds contracts Q1 2015 Client ESVAGT Keppel AmFELS LLC Keppel Shipyard Ltd Seaways International Pte Ltd Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine Bernhard Schulte New Orient Marine PTE Van Oord ULSTEIN Esvagt OEG Offshore KEY

Vendor Havyard Ship Technology AS Undisclosed/Confidential Golar Gimi Corporation (Golar Gimi) Keppel Singmarine PTE Ltd Keppel Singmarine PTE Ltd ULSTEIN Keppel Singmarine Pte Ltd Damen CBO Havyard Oilfield & Resource Rentals (ORR) & Offshore Cryogenic Services (OCS)

Details Contracted to build a 60-man service vessel for Dudgeon wind farm operated by Statoil Deal worth +US$100m to build one of the world's largest land drilling rigs for delivery mid-2016 Contract for conversion of LNG carrier, the GIMI, into a FLNGV worth approx US$705m Agreement to contract multi-task AHT vessel for offshore activities Joint venture to provide technical services for new lifeboat Contract to build 2 x SOVs with accommodation for up to 109 persons for WINDEA Offshore GbbH & Co KG Contract for an ice-class multi-purpose vessel worth cUS$265m Elected to supply FCS 1605 vessel to commence operations April 2015 Contract for design & equipment package for a PSV PX105 type; includes option for 2 more vessels Agreement to deliver 2nd windfarm service vessel as part of a 5yr contract for Siemens Acquisitions of West Australian Oilfield Service Providers

Date Dec-14 Jan-15 Jan-15 Jan-15 Jan-15 Jan-15 Jan-15 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Mar-15

LNG - Liquefied Natural Gas • FLNGV - Floating Liquefaction Vessel • AHT - Anchor Handling Tug • SOV - Service Operating Vessel • FCS - Fast Crew Supplier • PSV - Platform Supply Vessel

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Analysis

Industry confidence and priorities for the year ahead The road ahead is a challenging one for the oil and gas sector; customers and suppliers are being forced to adjust.

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ast year, the US, Australia, and Brazil were the most favourable oil and gas investment destinations.

Today, the US (28%), followed by China (11%) and Norway (9%) top the list ~ according to new insight from DNV GL.

Globally, a quarter of the respondents plan to increase standardisation of tools and processes to impose stricter cost controls.

Australia Australia has experienced the most significant fall in industry confidence in the last three months of any location globally. Hiring intentions changed dramatically in the region. For example, prior to the dip, just 10% planned to decrease headcount; this rose to more than half (52%) in January 2015. A similar outlook is reflected in capital expenditure intentions, with those planning to increase CAPEX (capital expenditure) in the same three month period dropping 56 percentage points (from 71%) to 16%.

Expectations of spending on R&D/innovation have also scaled back sharply in the last three months, with respondents planning to decrease spending rising from 8% to 39% in January. Some 14% still plan to increase spending on R&D and innovation, compared with 10% globally; and, 18% believe that skill shortages the biggest barrier to growth compared to 11% in North America, and 14% in Europe.

Richard Palmer, regional manager for Australia at DNV GL - Oil & Gas, said that the industry must take heed of the lessons learnt from the recent wave of investments in order to make future investments more sustainable.

"It is important that the industry continues to develop skilled people in Australia and to invest in research and innovation. If we stop doing this, we are going to be worse off further down the road. We need to use this downturn to become more efficient in how we do things,” he said.

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North America The low level of confidence in North America is also reflected in capital expenditure intentions. Previously, a quarter (25%) of respondents were planning to decrease CAPEX and this has now risen to more than half (51%). Almost half (49%) now expect headcount to decrease, compared to 11% in 2014. The survey showed that cost management is a top priority for nearly a quarter (24%) in 2015, but this is the lowest response for any region. The global average is 31%.

Peter Bjerager, divisional director for Americas at DNV GL - Oil & Gas, said that the fact that: “When the US is now cited as the most favourable investment destination by 28% of respondents globally, followed by China and Norway, it indicates confidence in the mix of cost management measures being taken in the US. “We asked senior oil and gas professionals what measures they would prioritise to impose stricter cost control and tougher decisions on CAPEX was preferred by more than half of the respondents. Other preferred measures included improving workflow/processes, increasing pressure on the supply chain to reduce costs, and reducing exposure to costlier, riskier projects.

Cuts in the workforce come in fifth place by nearly a quarter, closely followed by more standardisation of tools and processes, chosen by one in five of the respondents.”

“Together with continued investments in R&D, these are measures that balance short-term cost control with longer-term efficiency gains,” Bjerager concludes.

Europe Europe's oil and gas industry is taking action, with 49% planning to decrease CAPEX this year, compared to 8% last year. Nearly half (48%) also plan to decrease headcount in 2015 compared to only 16% in 2014.

Although confidence and CAPEX intentions scaled back, the drop has been less severe in Europe over the last three months than in other regions. More than three quarters (76%) of European respondents plan to increase strictness on cost control with 31% saying that cost management will be their top priority in 2015. A

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Quick facts • China is the second-most-favoured investment destination among 11% of global respondents, after the US (28%) and before Norway in third place (9%).

• 14% of Asia Pacific respondents still plan to increase spending on R&D and innovation in 2015 compared to 10% globally.

• Asia Pacific reports the biggest cut back in spending on R&D of any region in the last three months, with only 14% of respondents planning to increase spending on R&D, a drop of 25 percentage points in the last three months.

• The biggest barriers to growth for Asia Pacific respondents are the low oil prices (68%), the weak global economy (38%) and tougher competition from international rivals (25%).

number of measures are expected with 49% planning tougher decisions on what CAPEX decisions are actually approved; and 36% prioritising improved workforce/work processes; and the same number planning to increase pressure on the supply chain to reduce costs. Around one third (33%) of European respondents expect to prioritise standardisation of tools and processes in order to impose stricter cost controls.

Tobias Rosenbaum, regional manager, Continental Europe and North Africa for DNV GL – Oil & Gas Tobias Rosenbaum, regional manager: Continental Europe and North Africa for DNV GL – Oil & Gas, said: “Despite tighter budgets and tougher conditions, it is important that the industry continues to develop skilled people in Continental Europe and it is positive to see that sixty percent of respondents plan to maintain or increase investment in research and innovation. This will be needed for the long-term health of the industry. And there is work in progress too: the Pan-European pipeline projects in the southern gas corridor are very long term oriented and we see them being pushed ahead independent of the current of oil & gas prices.”

The biggest barriers to growth for European respondents are the low oil prices (68%), the weak global economy (36%), uneconomic gas prices (21%) and tougher competition from international rivals (19%). Only 14% of European respondents cite skills shortages or an ageing workforce as a barrier to growth in 2015. Globally skills shortages were the biggest barrier to growth in 2014 (49%) and 2013 (55%). However, 11% in Europe still plan to increase spending on R&D/innovation.

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SUMMER 2015

• 18% of Asia Pacific respondents believe skills shortages or an ageing workforce to be the biggest barrier to growth compared to 11% in North America and 14% in Europe.

• 22% of Asia Pacific respondents will prioritise increasing pressure on the supply chain to control costs, which is less than in other regions (38% in North America and 36% in Europe).

• And overall, the US (28%), China (11%) and Norway (9%) are the top three most-favoured investment destinations for 2015, whereas last year these were the US, Brazil and Australia.

Source: www.dnvgl.com/balancingact

Hiring plans have fallen by the wayside in the Asia Pacific region More than anywhere else, in fact. In October 2014, more than half (51%) of respondents still expected headcount to increase in their business, but this has now dropped to 11%, and 46% now expect the headcount to decrease up 30 percentage points in three months. Cost management will be a priority driven by pressure from low margins with 70% of respondents planning to increase strictness on cost control.

New measures will be introduced with the top priorities being: improved workflow and processes (43%), tougher decisions on what capital expenditure decisions are actually approved (38%), reducing exposure to riskier/costlier projects and reducing the size of the workforce (both 29%).

Working smarter Richard Bailey, executive VP and director for Asia Pacific and Middle East, at DNV GL - Oil & Gas, said: “The dramatic drop in confidence, CAPEX, and hiring intentions [recently] is no surprise given the oil price. At the same time, we have some of the world’s largest international mega projects for Australia, Malaysia, Middle East, and Europe still under development here, which in turn, will keep key regional suppliers busy.

“It’s positive to note that Asia Pacific respondents put a greater emphasis on improving work processes as ways to work smarter and more cost-effectively to help ride out the storm. Whilst shortterm measures ~ such as cutting CAPEX spend to reduce costs ~ are understandable, the industry must continue to keep a clear focus on long-term growth to remain robust in different price environments.”

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Focus

Battered antennas, wind farms on the high seas, and predicting bandwidth requirements are all tough, daily challenges for some of us. In this article, experts from the European Professional Satellite Association share their thoughts on these issues.

E

Usatcom is a professional association that enables a platform for networking with European satellite industry stakeholders and progressing business opportunities. Under its wing, members mingle with other experts on the latest industry developments, and discover new ways serve customers in the field.

The next generation of backhaul Semir Hassanaly, market director cellular backhaul & trunking, Newtec

"The landscape for satellite backhaul has radically changed.

The rapid expansion of mobile networks to rural areas all over the world and the fact that the traffic on mobile networks is moving from voice to data and video puts special requirements to satellite links."

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Mobile operators need to invest in solutions which best serve them today, but are also geared towards a fast evolving environment. Not only do operators have to exend their networks to cover rural areas, the new smartphone generation has expectations. For mobile networks nowadays, acceleration, compression, caching, and traffic shaping can all help to enhance the user experience.

For the satellite industry, the challenge is to provide a new generation of satellite backhaul that can ensure QoS, differentiate traffic, manage the highest peak requirements, and get a service level commitment.

Ka-band offshore Amid depressed oil prices, the offshore industry is going through some tough times and many are seeking ways to bring communication costs down, wanting more bandwidth for less cost. Thankfully, new Ka-band satellites covering large areas in the North Sea, together with the roll-out of new professional services, are bringing unprecedented price-value performance. Yet, while these solutions are helping to satisfy some of the bandwidth-hunger, from platform crews who want to stay in touch with their friends and family at home via their own devices, using Ka-band at sea is not a trivial matter.

SUMMER 2015

NEWS

Focus

Offshore platforms, particularly in the North Sea, can experience winds with hurricane force that pummels the antennas.

Traditionally, this equipment was made for the rural market where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easier to take a ladder to go and fix any damage. But to get to a damaged offshore unit, you need to a certified engineer onboard, usually transported via helicopter. Aiding this dilemma, is a fundamental re-build of the antenna. When the whole configuration is remotely manageable, then the need to physically send someone to the offshore site can be minimised.

Cees Mol, CEO, icees

"Out on our platforms in the North Sea we sometimes see winds with hurricane force beating our antenna equipment.

We pride ourselves to be able offer a high quality KaSatPro service that is reliable under those extreme weather conditions and our Crew Welfare system to keep people connected to their families and friends."

The engineering behind wind power The construction of new oil platforms in the North Sea has nearly stopped due to falling oil prices, but the new-builds for durable energy sources, such as wind energy, is accelerating. The German initiative to build massive wind farms in the North Sea is driving this transition.

The placement of wind turbine masts on the high sea is an engineering masterpiece, but reliable communication links are critical. Position, motion, and inclination of the masts all need to be monitored to ensure that the mast is deployed at the right location and, very importantly, 100% vertical. For that, sensor data in the masts are streamed in real-time to a data centre onshore to control the process of placing the masts. Satellite service providers had to innovate and developed specialised methods to guarantee the reliable connectivity needed to support that.

Anja Milicev, Project Management Maritime & Offshore, MediaMobil GmbH

"Building offshore wind constructions on high seas is an astonishing engineering accomplishment, and we are proud we can contribute by providing reliable communication links."

NEWS

SUMMER 2015

Smart flexibility Traditional communications links can no longer support the bandwidth-hungry needs of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s applications in the Oil & Gas sector for commercial monitoring, control functions, data analysis, safety management and crew welfare. Energy companies are also constantly implementing new applications onboard vessels and on offshore platforms, such as: real-time monitoring systems, ERP systems, and videoconferencing, to make operations more efficient.

All these services have different requirements in terms bandwidth, making the total capacity required a bit difficult to predict. It also means that services need to be smarter and that the flexibility to meet fluctuations is an important part of an effective solution for this market.

Mark Lambert, VP sales & marketing, managing director for Europe & EMEA, Advantech Wireless

"As the data environment in the energy sector can be extremely unpredictable over time, our satellite terminals can jump between very low data rates (eg. SCADA) and high-rate streaming data (eg. HD video) and back again, in an instant, while using the satellite bandwidth most effectively. It is these types of smarter solutions that help our customers deal with the turbulent conditions they work in."

Hub Urlings, Founder of M2sat& EUsatcom Bureau

"The increasing complexity of IP-based corporate applications and the need to integrate satellite networks in corporate WANs requires teamwork and a smooth collaboration of knowledgeable partners. For me that is one of the key drivers behind the European Professional Satellite Association."

EUsatcom encourages all stakeholders to join in the conversation and to help move the industry forward. The Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homepage can be found at EUsatcom.org.

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Brent Bruun, executive VP of mobile broadband at KVH Industries Inc.

News

Big Data impact on maritime operations

Intelligent managed comms Those that find themselves in remote locations, such as in the energy and cruise industries, can struggle to obtain reliable, always-on communications when they change global position.

Harris CapRock Communications has just launched what it claims is the industry’s first unified, fully managed satellite, wireless and terrestrial connectivity service designed to reduce voice, data and equipment management costs. The new offering, called Harris CapRock One, switches between the various transport mediums to optimize communications. It enables users to replace current single or dual-band communication support options with a multiple-medium solution to provide optimal connectivity at any given time.

“Harris CapRock is going to drastically change the way our clients experience managed communications services,” said Tracey Haslam, the company’s president. “Harris CapRock One is the first commercial service of its kind to unify satellite, wireless and terrestrial connectivity into one platform.

Customers want a solution that is flexible and optimizes their operations no matter where they are located, or how mobile their assets are. Harris CapRock One delivers that and more.”

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Optimising network traffic via a smartbox By optimising the network traffic, the ICD (Intelligent Communications Director) enhances the end-to-end experience, completing an intelligent routing solution with application performance management.

A multi-band antenna allows for C-, Ku- and Ka-band connectivity with no additional moving parts. This means that any satellite orbiting the Earth can be accessed without technician intervention.

The ICD is a geographically aware smartbox that recognizes where the multiband antenna is around the world and carries a database of the network footprints available. The device is aware of the operator’s traffic and can route it intelligently over the most appropriate network path based on speed, latency, location, and cost.

This technology also means that energy and cruise industry businesses can invest in fewer radomes that support any signal and will self-configure for the scenario depending on where the vessel or site is in the world. Ships and oil and gas operations now have multiple communications choices in one technology, achieving the highest uptime in the industry at 99.999%.

Owners and operators want clarity in usage trends to better understand the implications of data use. The trends on land, that are forcing cell phone companies to sell access by the gigabyte, are starting to transfer to maritime services. So, services for data access at sea need to address the increasing operational demand and the threat that crew's broadband data usage could overwhelm a vessel’s data network.

To support data-based applications onboard commercial vessels, the next generation of connectivity ~ between ship and shore ~ will be dominated by applications to help ship owners and managers reduce costs by enhancing operational efficiency, automating processes, and avoiding expensive repairs.

The maritime industry is facing exploding demand for broadband connectivity at sea across mobile devices. Attracting and retaining quality workforce is still a major challenge facing industry leaders with “a tech-savvy, digital native crew” being asked to work on increasingly sophisticated equipment, against increasingly complex regulatory expectations.

“Simply adding bandwidth capacity and data speed is not enough as there are always new ways to fill up that capacity.”

Today’s seafarers are also demanding better communications connections to home; social media, and the internet at sea ~ as well as have access to news, movie and TV entertainment, and music, all of which must be licensed. “The shipping industry needs to change how it thinks about connectivity and content delivery,” says Bruun.

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