Supporting
Offshore Oil Industry
 The
Digital Oceans concept presents ample opportunities for supporting
the offshore oil industry. The trend toward subsea wells—some
1,000 more are expected by 2005—illustrates industry expansion
into deepwater and suggests the timeliness of our support in deepwater
oil exploration, maintenance and safety. Recent fluctuations in
oil prices make it clear that supporting our domestic oil industry
is of vital interest. By using our strong contacts with the oil
industry, we could help create a new industry that contributes directly
to Sea Grant's National Strategic Objective of economic leadership.
Specific applications in this area include exploration and survey
and inspection and intervention. Improving the endurance and telemetry
capabilities of current AUVs will allow researchers to deploy a
small fleet of survey vehicles from one support ship, thereby collecting
data more efficiently. That data, in turn, could be funneled into
a comprehensive Digital Oceans database that the offshore oil industry
could use to make major decisions such as pipeline routes and platform
locations–thereby safety, decreased environmental impact, and
substantial cost savings.
In the area of inspection and intervention, the important technologies
will be sensors, telemetry, and management and control software
focused on the region immediately surrounding an offshore structure
or pipeline. Properly equipped with quality sensors, high bandwidth
telemetry, and the ability to perform highly complex tasks, AUVs
could be permanently docked in these areas. This would vastly improve
the efficiency and safety of intervention and inspection activities.
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