Alcatel-Lucent to design communications solution with Norwegian oil and gas Statoil

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) has signed an agreement with Statoil to co-design and deliver a solution incorporating high-bandwidth communications and electrical power supply into subsea control systems for offshore oil and gas production facilities. The solution will address tiebacks – connections from offshore/onshore production facilities to subsea equipment - for oil and gas recovery.

The solution developed by Alcatel-Lucent with Statoil will provide seabed connection points for the superior delivery of communication services and power supplies, thus eliminating the inherent interface bottlenecks in current subsea control architectures. Using advanced technology from Alcatel-Lucent's submarine telecommunication systems, the new solution will target near-unlimited distances at any sea depth, with superior reliability and resiliency. The subsea connection points will be compatible with existing offshore fields as well as future fields and technologies.

Philippe Dumont, President, Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, said: "We are pleased to work closely with Statoil on such a breakthrough technology. Alcatel-Lucent uniquely combines its world-class subsea expertise in design and marine operations. Our innovation capabilities will help Statoil and the rest of the industry make its offshore operations more efficient, more reliable and expand Statoil capabilities to extract oil and gas from its reservoirs.This project gives us the opportunity to leverage submarine cable technologies for new pioneering subsea applications."

More about the new solution
The solution is composed of an independent submarine electrical and optical fiber cable connecting the production facility with subsea nodes positioned anywhere along the submarine cable outlet. Each subsea node is able to deliver up to 10kW through low voltage DC or AC interfaces and optical fiber connection points with the production facility. The subsea cable outlet is powered from production facility with a high voltage DC toward the subsea nodes.  The design allows in-service extensions and repairs.

Source: Alcatel-Lucent