NOVEMBER 2, 2006 -- Tyco Telecommunications (search for Tyco Telecommunications) has signed a contract with Houston-based BP America Inc. to supply an undersea fiber optic system serving offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. The system will comprise the undersea backbone of a regional communications network, providing diverse connectivity from BP's Gulf of Mexico offshore production facilities back to the regional operating center in Houston.
The system will initially link seven deep-water production platforms with landings in Freeport, TX, and Pascagoula, MS. The network incorporates an upgrade capability designed to support 64 platforms.
In its own announcement, BP estimated that the network will run 800 miles. The system will allow greater operating flexibility, according to BP, including the ability to continue producing safely for longer periods when hurricanes enter the Gulf and to return more quickly to production after storms pass. In some cases the project may mean that facilities do not have to be shut down at all.
The project has put emphasis on robustness and reliability as an outgrowth of the 2005 hurricane season, which was particularly challenging for traditional communications systems. To achieve this, Tyco Telecommunications will deploy long-haul undersea telecommunications technologies adapted for the requirements of offshore applications. Each platform will be served by a branch off of a deep-water trunk. Using optical multiplexing in undersea branching units, each platform will have direct optical connectivity to both landing stations, ensuring continued operations independent of any other platform in the system during hurricane events.
"Communications systems to high-value production platforms, now further offshore in deep water, require the innovative application of undersea fiber-optic technologies, especially in an environment that is susceptible to hurricanes," said Rob Munier, managing director for global solutions at Tyco Telecommunications. "The system we are building will set a new standard for offshore communications systems."
"This $80 million investment will allow early evacuation of our offshore staff whilst keeping critical energy supplies flowing as well as improving our operating efficiency and operability year round," said Kenny Lang, BP vice president, Gulf of Mexico.
"During routine operations, the fiber-optic network will allow each of BP's new cutting-edge technology centers in Houston to remotely apply high-level technical expertise to our offshore producing facilities. The large bandwidth provided by the network will enable staff in the Houston centers to monitor offshore digital operating and safety equipment which will contribute to faster problem resolution for our operations," Lang said.
In the future, the network may make it possible for BP staff onshore to control offshore facilities remotely, BP believes.
Tyco Telecommunications will manufacture the key elements of the fiber-optic system at its plants in Newington, NH, and Lowell, MA. The Tyco Decisive, a 140-m cable-laying vessel based at Tyco Telecommunications' depot in Baltimore, will deploy the undersea plant and make the connections to the offshore platforms. The vessel has an American Bureau of Shipping dynamic positioning system 2 classification (DPS-2), enabling a variety of complex offshore operations anywhere in the world.
Tyco Telecommunications expects to deliver the system to BP in mid-2007.
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