Telecommunications In the Energy Field
Authors: Williamson Don 
Published: March 2010

Rapid advances in the fields of electronics and communications have led to a series of developments which have revolutionized the industry. The production in quantity of solid-state electronic chips has enabled vast inroads to be made in computer technology. Applications of these space-age techniques have placed powerful tools in the hands a/the energy industry, The application of some Of these techniques in office management, for example, will completely alter the traditional office system within the next decade. The advent of satellite communication has already opened up new horizons in the point-to-point communications field. Some of the areas where this advanced technology may be applied to the energy industry are discussed.

Introduction

During the development years in the energy industry, telecommunications was treated as an afterthought. In most companies, the emphasis was on exploration, the drilling of wells for oil and gas, the extraction of the product and delivery to market. Where radio, telephone, teletype, telemetering or other facilities were required, these were installed in a disorderly, inefficient manner, frequently creating endless problems due to the lack of coordination among user, common carrier and supplier of equipment. As the industry matured, the forward-thinking corporations such as Esso Resources, Shell Resources. Dome Petroleum and others began to create corps of communications engineers and technologists to plan and develop complex systems and networks to increase operating efficiency and improve operational flexibility. It became readily apparent that the simple presence of the Common telephone or teletype terminal on a construction supervisor's desk in some remote Arctic location did, in fact, entail considerable planning and some sophisticated engineering know-how to place it there.

The purpose of this paper is to outline in simple terminology, some of the developments in telecommunications as they relate to the energy industry. It is proposed to show also that, due to the rapid technological changes occurring in the electronics industry, it is no longer possible for the user of equipment depending on this technology to function efficiently with out-of-date methods or inexperienced personnel. It is no longer possible for the user to depend on the manufacturer for basic engineering, whether it be for a complex system or a simple network. The dangers of improper project planning in the telecommunications field are as disastrous as mistakes in the building of a pipeline or the construction of a building.

The paper covers some of the applications of telecommunications to administration services, operations, exploration, production and supply services as they relate to the energy industry.

Administrative Services

Office Services

With the advent of centralized office complexes for the most part situated in large cities, detailed engineering studies are a virtual necessity to determine the telecommunications support necessary for modern office management. Present electronic technology has pushed the present-day office system into a space-age world known only to the science fiction follower a decade past. The Canadian Government has known for some years that an explosion in electronic high technology was imminent and vast expenditures of funds