The adoption of digitalisation is gaining pace in the oil and gas industry, particularly in the offshore segment where its benefits are more felt, in terms of aspects such as automating operations, HSE, seismic surveys and remote management of both workers and systems.
Apart from the various unconventional construction, drilling and extraction methodologies at play today in the offshore segment, it is perhaps the embracing of digital technologies that are transforming the offshore business.
“Bentley has a lot of expertise and is a leading provider of structural design and analysis software, specifically for the offshore industry,” Anne-Marie Walters, the global marketing director for software systems manufacturer Bentley Systems, comments. “For more than 40 years, Bentley’s SACS software has focussed on the design, fabrication, installation, operations, and maintenance of offshore structures, including oil platforms and wind farms. This has made SACS the go-to tool for most of the world’s offshore engineers.”
She continues: “Virtually all energy companies specify SACS software for use by their engineering firms across the lifecycle of fixed offshore platforms. Among these firms are DORIS Engineering, Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), Saipem, Technip, Wood Group, and WorleyParsons. Other users include engineering certification firms such as American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas Group, China Classification Society, Germanischer Lloyd AG, and Lloyd’s Register Group. In addition to SACS, we offer MOSES and MAXSURF for the design and analysis of floating structures.”
Technology service providers to the offshore sector have to tackle the challenges of meeting the specific requirements of a project, as no two offshore developments can be identical in characteristics. In such a scenario even simple systems and equipment can prove to be efficient in addressing the particular demands of an offshore operational environment.
“Even if not similar, it is always about connectivity and to ensure connectivity standards as WIFI or future 4G private networks in a rough and remote surrounding/location. The devices have to be implemented into a wireless network and infrastructure accompanying the whole drilling process and routines on a platform,” Christian Uhl, vice president of Marketing at digital products’ provider ecom, mentions.
He explains: “In collaboration with a long-standing partner network of manufacturing and development partners including globalcompanies such as Airbus, Honeywell, Samsung and Sonim, ecom is driving the digital transformation in hazardous areas. A key component is the ecom Mobile Worker platform, a flexible and integrated wireless ecosystem built around rugged and explosion-proof mobile computers (tablets, smart phones, PDAs), wireless peripheral devices (headsets, scanning and measuring devices, docking stations) and smart software applications – complemented by specialised service offerings and support.”
“With the price of oil falling, owners and their contractors are focussing on extending the life of their existing assets and using offshore structural analysis to meet this goal on assets that have been successfully operating in the sea for many years,” Walters says. “Extending the life of existing assets saves owners from building new platforms. Likewise, if a platform is damaged by weather or a ship’s impact, our software can help bring that platform quickly and safely back into production.”
“An excellent example of such a project is ZADCO,” she cites, “which used SACS to simulate the impact of a ship collision and assess the damage to reinstate production from a wellhead platform off the coast of Abu Dhabi, saving the owner $2.6mn in restoration costs.”
