Situation
Nobody rules the deep water like the explorers of Kerr-McGee. The company is the largest independent producer and leaseholder in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico, holding interest in more than 550 leases in the Gulf, with more than 350 of these in deep water.
Problem
Among the company's largest gulf developments are Nansen, Boomvang and Gunnison, all in waters deeper than 3,000 feet. Gunnison, discovered in 2000, is in approximately 3,100 feet of water. Fabrication of a truss spar at Gunnison was completed in early 2004.
Kerr-McGee needed a partner to establish, manage and maintain a reliable communications system not just during the truss spar's construction, but also throughout the lifespan of the Gunnison operation. The company understands that ruling the deep water means not just being there, but also making sure the crews have a reliable way to communicate with each other, the main office and friends and loved ones back home.
Solution
Kerr-McGee called on CapRock Communications because of CapRock's reputation for reliable communications in the world's harshest and most extreme locations. Plus, the Houston-based company had already proven itself, reliably delivering service to Kerr-McGee ships for a number of years.
"CapRock had been providing microwave radio service for many of our ships," said Kerr-McGee Telecommunications Specialist Steve Begnaud. "The reliability CapRock offers, coupled with the cost-effectiveness of its communications solutions, convinced us that CapRock would be a good service provider for the Gunnison field."
CapRock installed a satellite communications system on the Gunnison rig. The system features voice over IP (VoIP) with 192K of bandwidth for eight phone lines. In addition, the rig is connected via satellite to the Kerr-McGee intranet and to the Internet, as well.
"We selected VoIP because it uses bandwidth more efficiently than traditional satellite communications or microwave," Begnaud said.
Results
During the construction phase, the system supported 92 crewmembers, and, now with production underway, the system supports crews of 16 to 20 workers.
"Even with heavy use by the construction crews, we haven't experienced any problems with the system," Begnaud said. "In fact, we're noticing less delay in the voice than is typical for communications from out in the field."
"Our experience using CapRock - both on the Gunnison project, and on other rigs and ships - has been very positive," he said.
