COMMUNICATIONS • TELEMETRY
in 2016 if already record-low prices lose more ground. “Prices are going to stay lower for longer; we have said it and I think we are in this for a couple of years. For sure, there is a boom-and-bust cycle here,” Dudley said. Te good news is savings on satellite
online services will still be available when crude oil prices begin to rise again. In fact, as technology continues to improve, monthly fees may continue to decline, providing even larger positives for an industry beset with unruly market declines. Lower rates and increased upload/
Today’s enterprise satellites used for O&G network connections are mobile and can rest on a tripod if need be
download speeds are the result of upgrades to hardware and the use of the Ka band, which supports mobile applications and has much more bandwidth than the previously used Ku band satellites. Te capacity expansion is what allows for reception without interruption. Providers such as RTC are now able to offer 1MB up/5MB down capability with a total of 20GB of data per month at a dramatically reduced price. Tis technology will soon allow for even faster speeds and greater capacities. By the end
the amount of data transmission as would be needed for this type of application. As new satellites come online within the coming months and years, the speeds and capacities will continue to increase while the costs are projected to decrease even further.
As an example, this type of enterprise-
level service with faster upload/download speeds is provided by companies such as Real Time Communications (RTC). Both fixed and mobile applications within the contiguous 48 states are available.
SAVINGS IN EVERY MARKET CYCLE In the recent past, sensitivity to online costs was, perhaps, overshadowed by the higher cost of oil, which enabled larger profits for companies. Now the “new oil order” suggests that the industry is seeking a new equilibrium, which may be a nice way of saying low prices will probably be volatile but trapped within a stingy range. Corporate leaders, such as BP Chief
Executive Bob Dudley, have warned that oil producers could suffer even more losses
of 2016 the company projects it will be offering 2MB up/15MB down with a 50GB capacity. Installation costs have also dropped by about 30%. With the perspective of three decades of experience, Clemons can fully appreciate how much technological progress has been made. In the old days companies would have to pay monthly fees for many analogue circuits. “When satellites came along, they eliminated the need to have a circuit dropped into every faraway rig or oil field,” he says. “So suddenly you did not have to pay for half a dozen separate sites.” Clemons and other experts in the field
believe that current speed and capacity will double again when a new satellite becomes available online within the year. And this will be a boon for new projects the size of the Keystone Pipeline that have lengthy unmanned segments that require remote data access. l
Bryan Young is president of RTC.
www.rtc-vsat.com
Advances in satellite technology have enabled communications to be deployed even at the most remote unmanned oil fields
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