578 



30 EXPANDING THE USES OF NA VAL OCEAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



TABLE 1 Technology Needs of Offshore Oil and Gas Industries 



Short-Term Long-Term 



Need* Need* 



Technology Area 1995-1999 1999-2010 



Source: National Petroleum Council (1995). 



'NOTE: Average response of 10 major corporations to a 35-page questiomiaire. Respondents were 



asked to rank needs as low (1), medium (3), or high (5). 



• Subsea pumping, compression, and oil/gas separation systems 



• Relocation beacons with remote triggering 



• Acoustic, fiber-optic, and hard-wire data transmission 



Subsea pipehne construction and operation requirements include installation 

 methods, leak detection, fluid metering, oil and water cut monitoring, wall thick- 

 ness monitoring, and methods for maintaining pipeline location. 



A recent survey conducted by the National Petroleum Council (NPC), an 

 industry association, outlined the technology needs of the oil and gas industry. 

 The NPC survey indicates an average ranking of specific needs of 10 major 

 companies. The survey contains important information regarding both short- 

 term (the next five years) and long-term (1999-2010) industr>' needs, which are 

 summarized in Table 1 (National Petroleum Council, 1995). 



Overlap exists between the needs of the offshore oil and gas industry and 

 areas of research supported by ONR. NRL 7000 (Ocean and Atmospheric Sci- 

 ence and Space Technology) conducts research and development in many areas 

 that have potential application to offshore petroleum activities (see Table D8 in 

 Appendix D), including the following: 



