Telecommunications and control at British Petroleum's Forties. [North Sea]

The Forties oil field lies 110 miles east, off the Aberdeenshire coast. Construction of all offshore platforms and pipelines is nearing completion. As more wells are completed, the rate of production will increase. Eventually, there will be 4 fixed production platforms, each approx. 600 ft in height. When they are fixed to the sea bed, the lowest working platform will be some 70 ft above sea level. Each platform has a capacity for 27 production wells, some of which will be converted later to water injection wells to maintain reservoir pressure. These 4 platforms will produce an estimated 400,000 bpd, which will be pumped ashore to Cruden Bay through a 32-in.-diameter submarine pipeline. The Forties offshore production platforms probably represent the most expensive real estate in the world in terms of space and accommodation. For such a complex, highly reliable telecommunications systems are vital for efficient and safe operation as well as providing bearer circuits for data transmission. The installation is designed around local control and supervision, with data transmission to the operations center at Dyce, Aberdeen. A block diagram shows the remote control and supervisory system. Based on economic and technical considerations, it was decided to implement a Troposphericmore » Scatter System for the main onshore/offshore communications.« less