The versatility of telecom undersea cables in transporting large volumes of optical data and reasonable amounts of power make them good candidates for new applications offered in the oil and gas industry, as well as in the field of undersea scientific observation. In both cases, there is an ongoing evolution of how these different communities work at sea, which results in the growing need for more submarine cable networks.
New challenges for the offshore oil and gas industry Man is key to the operation of complex systems such as oil and gas offshore exploration and production units. Prompt decisions and actions are required to limit the operational risks while maintaining efficiency at its maximum. However, new ways of operating the offshore systems are needed to either further limit the risks or decrease the cost associated with their operation. The operating risks encompass many areas such as the risk to the personnel onboard the offshore unit, the risk to the equipment and structure itself, as well as the environmental risk in case of accidental leakage. One clear trend to mitigate those risks is to propose ways to either make the operation automatic when it is technically possible or to allow its remote control from a safer location on the mainland. In both cases, similar techniques that rely on dependable real time communications to shore are required. Remote operation, for instance, may require 2 to 10 Mbit/s of capacity whereas uploading real time reservoir drilling data to shore may require 10 to 100 Mbit/s, easily offered by optical transmission.
Emerging Markets for Submarine Cables Antoine Lécroart Area Marketing Director Alcatel Submarine Networks Antoine Lécroart has been working in the submarine industry with Alcatel for over 15 years. After being a technical project manager for the S560 submarine line terminal equipment, he was in charge of technical bidding for the first optically amplified transoceanic systems: TAT-12/ 13 and APCN. He was subsequently responsible for Product Marketing within Alcatel Submarine Networks for five years in Europe and three years in the US. Now relocated in France, he is in charge of Marketing and Sales for Emerging Markets.
Automation and remote operation are indeed required to reach the newly explored deep-water fields. These fields are deeper (500 to 3000 meters) and are further from shore (50 to 100 kilometers) compared to the previous shallower areas. Direct drilling from the surface is no longer possible and they normally require the support of floating platform and storage facilities (FPS). This trend will further develop as these deep fields are more and more explored due to the increasing scarcity of easier-to-reach resources. New undersea techniques capable of superior reach rely on the use of Remote Operating Vehicles (ROVs) and undersea manifolds equipped with wetmateable cable connectors. Dynamic risers or J-tubes accepting limited movement while still efficiently protecting the cable are also used to link the undersea elements to the FPS (Floating Platform and Storage). Flexibility is the key word as the submarine network evolves in time and new elements need to be connected as field coverage increases. The almost limitless bandwidth available over optical fibers brings other benefits such as improved voice communications and better security due to extensive use of video surveillance. Indeed, a wellengineered and protected cabled solution brings unsurpassed availability for true multi-service capability that easily copes with all types of data transported, including Internet Protocol (IP), voice, raw data and video streaming. As such, a ring architecture may create the backbone of this flexible multiple client network and can complement, and eventually replace, complex solutions using different satellite or radio links (Figure 1).
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