Report: Oil & Gas sector needs more sophisticated IT solutions for offshore operations

Marlink has reported a significant boost in demand for more bandwidth and new installations from new energy sector customers and increased activity from its existing customer base at sea and on land.

Strategically important markets such as the Middle East, America, Africa, Northern Europe and Gulf of Mexico are regions in which Marlink is expanding both in terms of number of activated terminals, satellite connectivity and managed network and IT solutions as well as onsite resources such as sales or in country field service teams.

Within these regions, Marlink has recorded significant year-on-year growth for H1 2019 at 11%, and is projected to be as high as almost 20% by end of year. The increased demand and activity is coming from diverse customers including National Oil Companies and oil majors as well as rig operators and companies providing Exploration & Production (E&P) services.

The growth reflects a healthy recovery in a number of cost-sensitive Oil & Gas markets. Key customers have been looking for increasingly sophisticated hybrid connectivity and IT solutions for onshore and offshore operations to drive the digital transformation of oil rigs, drilling and offshore supply vessels, production platforms and FPSO vessels.

Marlink’s portfolio of flexible and scalable satellite connectivity as well as IT solutions are providing a cost-efficient means to i.e., enable the monitoring of complex operations as well as improving welfare for remote workers. Achieving gains in operational performance through Marlink’s connected services is a key support for a return to operation for previously shelved assets.

Additionally, with more processes being performed digitally and remotely than ever before, interest in high-throughput and low-latency hybrid connectivity solutions is growing. These include the projected use of future LEO satellite constellations to further enable cloud-based applications and integrated SD-WAN networks for remote operation.

Erik Ceuppens, CEO, Marlink Group, said:

"Marlink’s energy customers require solutions that support them to optimise efficiency and reduce operational costs. More operators are seeing cloud-based and digital operations as a way to maximise performance when fewer assets and experts available due to challenging market conditions, which is reflected in the growing demand for our future-proof, managed network infrastructure, the technology we use and services we provide."