Ramform Tethys

Petroleum Geo-Services

PGS delivers detailed data, images and 3D models to energy companies worldwide to help them visualize the subsurface beneath the ocean floor and discover oil and gas reserves. With more than 2,000 employees from 61 nations, the company has built a team of reliable experts - and it has a responsibility to keep those people safe. To meet its business goals, PGS must balance that responsibility with the need to remain in operation when uncertain weather might cause downtime without good information.

The Challenge

PGS prides itself on operating the safest, most reliable and most efficient fleet in the industry, a task that requires accurate assessments and critical risk reduction. A focus on safety and risk assessment is especially important in its offshore operations, where unpredictable seas can make even the most routine imaging or reservoir monitoring project more dangerous.

“It’s vitally important to have the ability to plan activities during our projects and minimize weather risk exposure to our crew and equipment,” said Esben Jettestad, Head of Vessel Operations.

One of PGS’ largest challenges is to narrow down weather uncertainty for its operations so the company can increase uptime for its fleet. The only way for the company to achieve its goals is with regular and reliable forecasts, pinpointed to PGS’ specific area of operation.

Solution

“Over time, the offshore users have gained confidence in the forecasts from StormGeo and as such, in marginal weather, trust that we can continue production based on the information they deliver,” said Jettestad. “Especially on remote area locations where it is critical to have timely and reliable forecasts, it has been very useful to have the forecaster on duty to communicate with.”

StormGeo has access to weather models that range from global scale to finely targeted atmospheric and wave modeling, giving clients like PGS precisely the data they need to make their operational decisions.

In addition, the experts at StormGeo work in partnership with PGS’ offshore operators in order to ensure the best possible information. These operators play an essential role in improving the accuracy of the forecasts, both in timing and magnitude, by providing feedback on the initial forecasts at the start of a new project.

“On the Barents Sea project in 2015 involving Ramform Vanguard, our offshore users sent in actual observations of the weather in the field, which gradually improved the reliability of the forecasts,” said Jettestad.

Benefits

“The most important factors in choosing StormGeo as our weather service provider are the good customer relationship we’ve built up over the years, and the willingness of the StormGeo team to adapt their services to accommodate our specific needs,” said Jettestad.

For the PGS team, being able to meet on an annual basis to discuss the improvements that have been made to specific services based on their feedback from the previous year is extremely valuable.

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