Award of fiber optic contract brings remote ops to Mexican deepwater oil project

Tampnet, a Norway-headquartered provider of offshore high-capacity and low-latency connectivity services, has secured a fiber optic project and long-term service contract with Woodside Energy that will enable remote operations at an oil project in the Gulf of Mexico/America.

The fiber-based connectivity to shore for the Trion project will enable remote operations, safety and training capabilities, which will be managed from Woodside’s onshore facility based locally in Mexico.   

The contract represents Tampnet’s entry into Mexican waters.

“Offshore energy companies can now fully embrace digitalisation and automation technologies, benefitting from real-time data analytics and AI-driven insights, irrespective of the offshore field’s location,” said Tampnet CEO Elie Hanna.

“In terms of data speeds, reliability and scalability, no other technologies can compete with fibre optics, which is why offshore field developments focused on safety, minimal carbon emissions and efficiency continue to prefer and invest in fibre to shore. This project also ties in perfectly with our ambitions for geographic expansion and long-term presence in Mexico.”

The additional subsea fiber cable of approximately 200 kilometers will add to Tampnet’s existing fiber infrastructure in the deepwater region of the Gulf of Mexico/America, currently consisting of 1,500 kilometers.

Due to the company’s roaming relationship with the U.S. telecom major AT&T, additional 5G coverage will be available to offshore workers’ private devices, which also means an expansion of the coverage of the U.S. public safety network FirstNet.

According to Tampnet, its Gulf of Mexico/America subsea fiber infrastructure connects approximately 20 deepwater offshore assets on redundant fiber to shore and includes a new landing station.

The Trion project, being developed as a 60:40 joint venture between Woodside as the operator and Mexico’s PEMEX, is hailed as the first oil production from Mexico’s deepwater, with the potential for future discoveries to be tied back to its facilities. The initial phase foresees the drilling of 18 wells, with a total of 24 wells planned over the life of the project.

The development is located in the Perdido Basin at a water depth of 2,500 meters, approximately 180 kilometers off the Mexican coastline and 30 kilometers south of the Mexico-U.S. maritime border.