Kuala Lumpur & London – In a clear demonstration that the South East Asia regional oil & gas industry, including the Malaysian exploration and production (E&P) segment, continues to be one of the most dynamic in the exploration for new offshore hydrocarbon reserves – especially in deepwater zones which carry with them the highest E&P operating costs – and illustrative of a continuing and crucial oil & gas industry focus on the communications imperatives of the segment, key regional and global energy companies have joined in strength with the international communications industry to contribute to the next event in the Oil & Gas Communications Conference Series, which is entitled Redefining the Digital Oilfield Onshore, Offshore, Deep & Ultra-Deepwater.
Organised and produced by Global VSAT Forum (GVF) and United Kingdom Event Management Partners (UK-EMP), the ‘2nd Annual Oil & Gas Communications South East Asia Conference: Conference’ (O&GCSEA2009) will take place at the Kuala Lumpur Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel, Malaysia, over the period 17th & 18th November 2009. The Conference has attracted the wide support of key players in both the oil & gas industry vertical and the regional and local communications solution provider sector, support which is in addition to that of the organisations with which the event is held in association.
Conference speakers confirmed for the Kuala Lumpur programme will include representatives of (in alphabetical order): Baker Hughes, GVF VSAT Installation Training Centre (Thailand), Hughes Network Systems, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Pan Petroleum, Parallel, Schlumberger, Scopetel, SpaceNet, SpeedCast, and Telekom Malaysia. Additional speaker confirmations are anticipated and will appear on the programme pages of the event website.
Schlumberger, Hughes Network Systems, and Intelsat are supporting the event as conference sponsors, and the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council (APSCC), the regionally-based sister association of the GVF, has for the second successive year endorsed the event.
The three conference session topics to be addressed by Schlumberger are:
Understanding the 21st Century Digital Oilfield: Beyond SCADA to the Dynamics of Machine-to-Machine & Other Applications Development & Deployment in O&G Broadband Networking Communications
Real-Time Data Monitoring, Data Management Remote Collaboration & Operations Support Centres for Deepwater Exploration, Drilling & Production
Leveraging the Advantage of Stabilized and Ruggedized Satellite Antennas for the Wireless World of the FPSO & Semi-Submersible Environment
A representative of Hughes Network Systems will discuss:
Interactive Distance Learning for the Upstream Team: Delivering Corporate Training to Increase Productivity in the Oil & Gas Sector
And Intelsat representatives will examine both:
The Satellite Operator in the Asia Oil & Gas Patch: Planning Capacity Provision & Deploying Service Supply for Regional Oil & Gas Sector Demand
Broadband Satellite Networking Solutions beyond the Wellhead to the Greater O&G Downstream Environment
Other topics (and companies) to feature in the conference programme include:
First Mile/Last Mile Networking Solution Innovations in Oil & Gas: Communications Technology Hybrids & the Digital Oilfield Applications Solution (Cisco)
Value Add Services & Revenue Stream Maximisation in the Oil & Gas Vertical: What Do You Already Have That Your Clients Will Pay For? (Parallel)
Real-Time Data Monitoring, Data Management Remote Collaboration & Operations Support Centres for Deepwater Exploration, Drilling & Production (Baker Hughes)
GVF Satellite Installation New Training Dynamics for Oil & Gas Communications in South East Asia (PTS Thailand)
Broadband Satellite Networking Solutions beyond the Wellhead to the Greater O&G Downstream Environment (SpaceNet)
The Dynamics of the Oil & Gas Communications Technology Market: VAS in Project Deployment Case Studies (SpeedCast)
Marathon to Sprint/Hardware to Software in the Functionality Development Cycle: Keeping Pace with Innovation for the Oil & Gas Vertical Market (Parallel)
‘What the Oil & Gas Sector Needs versus What They Get: Envisioning a Broadband Special Interest Group for the Asia O&G Patch’ (Baker Hughes)
Oil & Gas Communications and Social Responsibility: Merging Community & Profitability in the Patch (Pan Petroleum)
Signal Interference Mitigation for Oil & Gas in South East Asia: Equipment Installer Certifications, Spectrum Security & Type Approvals (GVF)
Additional conference attendees pre-registered for O&GCSEA2009 include, from the energy sector, iPerentis, Ledder Enterprise, Marlink, Maxis, Newfield Peninsula Malaysia, O’Connor Engineering, SapuraAcergy, Petronas, SBM Offshore Malaysia, Shell Malaysia Exploration & Production, Sime Darby Engineering, Talisman Energy, Talisman Malaysia, Technip, and UMW Standard Drilling; and, from the communications industry include in excess of 20 Telekom Malaysia senior delegates from departments such as Wholesale International Operations; Retail Products; Special Networks Services; Global Network Development; SPM; Solution Integration; and, EnergySales.
The conference organisers have previously announced free-of-charge admission to the Kuala Lumpur programme for oil and gas industry representatives – from rig operators/owners, to oilfield services companies, drilling contractors, and ICT and telecoms specialists in the sector – in order to encourage their full participation. Similarly, GVF and UK-EMP have more recently announced that this offer will be continued for the next event in their jointly-organised vertical markets communications conference series, the 2nd Annual Broadband Maritime South East Asia: New Communications Networking Offshore & the High Seas conference, taking place 23rd to 24th February 2010 in Singapore. At the Broadband Maritime event, free-of-charge admission to the conference will be provided for shipping and ship management companies, and ship owners/operators across the container vessel, cruise line, and ferry operator segments, and to port authorities.
Commenting on this further initiative, Martin Jarrold, Chairman of the Oil & Gas Communications and Broadband Maritime Conferences Series, said that “GVF and UK-EMP are committed to supporting the continuing dialogue between the maritime sector and its communications solution providers in exactly the same way as we are committed to the dialogue between the oil & gas industry end-users of satellite broadband communications and the providers of such services.”
Added Paul Stahl, Managing Partner of UK-EMP, “Next February’s Singapore conference will feature a particular focus on the following key subject areas: (1) Key hardware technology developments in the design and deployment of state-of-the-art stabilised satellite antennas which enable effective satellite tracking and maintenance of signal integrity as vessels pitch and roll, whilst maintaining constant reliability through robustness and rugged design against challenging weather conditions; (2) New service provisioning, delivering ‘always on’ broadband applications with Quality of Service guarantees that go beyond basic ‘pay-by-the-minute’ service types and which facilitate greater predictability in mission critical delivery, as well as accuracy in the calculation of the cost of communications and, therefore, improved corporate overheads budgeting; and, (3) Access to applications and networks: meeting today’s imperative for constant, seamless and cost-effective connectivity to ensure optimised exploitation of physical maritime assets, maximised passenger satisfaction, maximized crew welfare, and optimised navigational safety.”
Featuring again in the Kuala Lumpur oil & gas communications programme is the session ‘New Training Dynamics for Oil & Gas Communications in South East Asia’. This will cover the latest major updates on the GVF VSAT Installer Certification Programme, which is endorsed by global satellite operators and adopted by major service providers. The programme gives field technicians the thorough knowledge and skills they need to accomplish professional, interference-free VSAT installations. More information is available from the GVF training portal, which shows how online materials engage students while conveying fundamental knowledge with technically accurate, simulator-driven interaction and animations. On-site sessions delivered by experienced instructors provide hands-on skills testing on real-world satellite equipment.
For the first time at the South East Asia conference, the session ‘Oil & Gas Communications and Social Responsibility: Merging Community & Profitability in the Patch’ will examine the subject of how the corporate social responsibility obligations of the oil and gas sector relates to the satellite communications industry. Though a new theme for the South East Asia variant of the Oil & Gas Communications Conference Series, this topic has previously been explored during 2009 GVF oil & gas series conferences in other parts of the global oil & gas patch.
Deployment of broadband satellite technologies is correctly recognised as not only imperative to maximisation of cutting-edge ‘digital oilfield’ applications and to considerations of cost-effectiveness, as well as of crew safety and welfare considerations in E&P activity in the upstream, but also in the refining, processing and distribution segments in the downstream of the oil and gas industry.
David Hartshorn, Secretary General of GVF noted that, “Moreover, such effective communications infrastructure is correctly seen as a force multiplier, enabling return on investment, as well as facilitating mission critical communications links. It is the return on investment consideration which renders even more practical what the GVF, together with organisations in the oil and gas industry, has characterised and proposed as an opportunity for energy companies to more effectively identify and implement opportunities to fulfil their social responsibility mandate.”
Commenting on the corporate social responsibility element of the conference programme, Patrick Lynch, Information Systems Manager with Pan Petroleum said “We should be constantly searching for effective, innovative ways in which to help the communities of the regions in which we operate, both in fulfilment of our social responsibility commitments and beyond. By working together we could implement sustainable, cost-effective solutions, making a real difference to people who are currently disenfranchised from the benefits many of us take for granted. Many current – and yet to be developed – services would then be accessible, such as education delivery and support through Internet and TV content, e-medicine, m-commerce, and simply the ability to talk with relatives on a cell phone.”
The Kuala Lumpur conference has also attracted the support of several Media Partners from the communications and oil & gas sectors, including: Alexander’s Gas & Oil Connections, Argus Media, EnergyAsia.com, EnergyCurrent.com, GulfOilandGas.com, BE Digest, Developing Telecoms, Marine Biz TV, Satellite Evolution Group, Satellite Markets & Research, SatNews Publishers, and talkSatellite.
