Communication needs of oil and gas companies

Some industries just cannot operate from a single location.

Unlike geographically centralized industries such as the garment industry, many heavy industries need operations in many different areas, often spanning thousands of kilometers from their headquarters. The oil and gas industry is a very good example.

Oil and gas companies may have dozens, even hundreds, of sites where they conduct exploration to find new reserves and extract deposits. They operate onshore as well as offshore, work nonstop day and night in the middle of wild jungles as well as in the middle of raging seas, far away from the comforts of modern civilization.

Not surprisingly, these companies have tremendous overhead costs, and must therefore ensure that their operations run as smoothly as possible. If, for some reason, work is halted for just one day, the ensuing loss will be staggering. In addition, there are other amenities and basic needs that must be supplied regularly as well as on demand, such as food and medication.

Understandably, logistics is the heaviest task at oil and gas companies. Spare parts should arrive on time to ensure that operations continue. Meanwhile, field workers are out in the middle of nowhere for months at a time, and they appreciate being able to call their families once in a while.

In fact, few other asset-intensive industries have communication requirements to match those of the oil and gas industry.

In this era of efficiency, competition and public accountability, oil and gas companies are hard pressed to find the most reliable and cost-efficient voice, data and video communication solutions to link their vast operations -- whether on a rig in the Java Sea or at a site on the tip of Sumatra -- as mobility, portability, bandwidth capacity and reliability must be carefully weighed against costs.

Oil and gas companies need a multi-mode communication service.

One option is to build and operate their own communication infrastructure. However, this means a significant amount of resources must be channeled to a non-core business activity. A more sensible alternative, therefore, is to use the services of a provider that has everything they require.

They need to partner with a provider that has a comprehensive range of communication infrastructure, facilities and gadgets, including mobile phones, leased lines and broadband Internet access.

Specifically, what are the communication requirements of the oil and gas industry? They need mobile communication with extended coverage that include all their areas of operations. They need all types of communication services, including radio trucking, paging, text messaging, emergency calls and national and international roaming.

Oil and gas companies are heavy users of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) and other telemetry applications. Therefore, they also need services that provide high-speed data communication support for these systems.

Reliability and speed are crucial in ensuring timely responses in the event of a crisis, which is not uncommon in the harsh environment of their operations.

Other services needed include the VPN (Virtual Private Network) for a secure, remote access to confidential company data, intranet access from mobile devices and other added-value services that give them the most bang for their money.

Clearly, they must choose a provider with an extensive communication package and years of experience in serving this unique industry, which is one of the main industries that contribute to the Indonesian economy. -- Zatni Arbi