Offshore oilfield operational support: Gulf of Mexico

Data User: Capt. Karl Greig, captain of a large anchor handling tug boat owned by Edison Chouest Offshore, a petroleum industry service company, uses NRT Jason data from CCAR to optimize routes while towing semi-submersible drilling rigs used in deepwater oil and gas exploration between lease blocks.

Example Operation: Moving a rig from Mississippi Canyon block 68 to Mustang Island block 68, a total of 425 nautical miles. Typical towing speeds are 3 to 4 knots so avoiding and/or using eddy currents significantly reduces transit times, in this case by over 50 hours.

Altimeter Product Used: Overlays of geostrophic velocity vector on colored magnitudes values accessed on CCAR website by satellite phone.

Estimated Savings: $650,000 in rig downtime and towing costs for one event.

Additional Information: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/profiles.cfm?profile=609