GVF and UK-EMP announce revised dates and venue for '3rd Annual Oil & Gas Communications: North Africa & Middle East' Conference 2008, Cairo

Following previous announcements about two key conferences which will each focus on the contribution of telecommunications applications, services, and technologies to successful oil & gas exploration and production, GVF and UK-EMP have now further announced a revision of the dates and venue for the third annual 'Oil & Gas Communications: North Africa & the Middle East' event.

The host city is still Cairo, Egypt, but the new conference facility to be used is located at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Corniche El-Nile, Garden City - Roda Island.

O&GC3, in Cairo, will follow five weeks after the 'Oil & Gas Connectivity: Digital Applications & Communications Dynamics' Conference - also organised by UK-EMP with the support of GVF - and which will take place as previously announced on 12th and 13th May at the Marriott Hotel, Aberdeen, Scotland.

Both the Aberdeen conference in May and the Cairo conference in June feature the generous support of GVF member Schlumberger as Principal Sponsor.

In Aberdeen, 'Oil & Gas Connectivity: Digital Applications & Communications Dynamics' will be the premier regional event at which the complex interrelationship between oil & gas sector applications supply, and the communications infrastructures required to support and deliver them, will be comprehensively investigated.

As a supplier of essential services to the sector, the satellite communications industry could not be more alert to the fact that cost-effective and efficient means of communication are essential to mission-critical operational success in the 'oil & gas patch'.

Satellite-based communications, together with satellite-terrestrial hybrid solutions, and terrestrial platforms, play a vital role in oil & gas, providing essential connectivity and access to vital applications, often in remote geographic environments and challenging climatic conditions.

Martin Jarrold, GVF Chief of International Programme Development, and Chairman of the Aberdeen and Cairo conferences, commented: 'Current searches for new reserves of oil & gas have migrated to harder-to-reach offshore locations, for example, most recently in the Arctic Ocean latitudes, and as older production fields are the target of innovative drilling and pumping techniques designed to extract the very last drop of oil or cubic meter of gas, the mission-criticality of information and communications technologies (ICTs) is becoming even more evident.'

'Oil & Gas Connectivity: Digital Applications & Communications Dynamics' will provide extended networking opportunities between key leaders of oil & gas companies, the vendors of cutting-edge applications, and the suppliers of state-of-the-art communications links.

The conference will create opportunities for companies in the oil & gas vertical to call upon all ICT solutions providers - terrestrial wireline, wireless, and satellite, in the communications field, together with developers/vendors in the digital applications field - to match their offerings more closely to the specific demands and requirements of the oil & gas patch.

As well as support from Schlumberger as Principal Sponsor, the Aberdeen conference has already secured the generous sponsorship support of GVF members Caprock Communications, and Arqiva. O&GC3 has the generous support of GVF members Hughes, and Advantech Satellite Networks, in addition to that of Schlumberger.

The key themes to be explored at 'Oil & Gas: Digital Applications & Communications Dynamics' will be as follows:


• Applications Evolution and 21st Century Dynamics in Oil & Gas Networking Communications

• Resilience & Security in 'Enabling the Digital Oilfield'

• Developing Advanced Communications Infrastructures to Realise the North Sea 'Digital Oilfield'

• Networking Technologies & Topologies 1: From Narrowband SCADA & Asset Tracking to Broadband Satellite Communications in the Oil & Gas Patch

• Networking Technologies & Topologies 2: Terrestrial Wireless & Fibre in the Oil & Gas Patch

• Technology & Topology: Evolving Commercial Applications to the Satellite Environment


• First Mile/Last Mile Networking Solution Innovations: Technology Hybrids & the Digital Oilfield Applications Solution

• E & P Convergent Digital Solutions 1: Real-Time Data Monitoring, Data Management & Remote Collaboration

• E & P Convergent Digital Solutions 2: Operations Support Centres for Drilling & Production

• E & P Convergent Digital Solutions 3: The Design & Ergonomics of the Collaborative Visualisation Environment

• The North Sea Oil & Gas Patch in the Greater Oil & Gas World 1: Local Wireless Connectivity & Hardware Case Studies

• The North Sea Oil & Gas Patch in the Greater Oil & Gas World 2: Global VSAT Connectivity & Hardware Case Studies

• Maintaining the Business Mission Critical Link: Oil & Gas Communications When Disaster Strikes

• 'All the 9s': Maximising Redundancy with Out-of-band Control & Monitoring Solutions

A key focus of this programme will be how satellite, and non-satellite, communications solutions help 'enable the digital oilfield', the key mantra of today's energy extraction environment.

The dialogue will go beyond what is implicit in the 'enabling of the digital oilfield' - that is, the imperative requirement for systems resilience and data security - to analyse today's communications product and service environment within which the players in the solutions vendor community compete to satisfy the efficiency and data risk-management needs of the buyers of Digital Oilfield ICT solutions in the E & P environment.

In further comment Mr. Jarrold added, 'Our Aberdeen dialogue will also examine how the use of different communications platforms is helped, hindered, and determined by geographically determined supply factors, as well as an analysis of the potential for spectrum allocation conflicts between terrestrial wireless and satellite solutions in different parts of the global oil & gas patch.'

Mr. Jarrold continued, 'Moreover, it will explore the evidence for increasing levels of demand for fibre in the offshore production environment, examining whether or not there is a coherent business model to support the deployment of such infrastructure.'