Muir Matheson is now into the second year of its five-year, multi-million pound METNET system contract with Shell UK Exploration and Production and has received an award for its achievements on the project. This five-year partnership began in August 2003 and covers all aspects of METNET including the provision of hardware, software, system engineering, field maintenance and data archiving.

METNET is a networked and safety critical system linked to the Adverse Weather Working Policy. It provides real-time metocean data in the form of wind, wave, temperature and pressure measurements for 23 offshore installations in four offshore assets. A key development in 2004 has been the implementation of our upgraded METNET 3G software and display systems to ensure compliance and standardisation. This has enabled us to deliver future cost reductions and we plan to extend this to four installations in the Dutch sector and one in the Norwegian sector.

There are many benefits of using METNET, as the contract for the North Sea is handled centrally with all equipment standardised to optimise maintenance and consistency of data. The one-minute data updates allow timely decision-making and the supply of data to third parties, such as weather forecast organisations, contributes to improved forecasts. Monitoring automation results in cost savings in all operational areas and reduces the requirement for offshore meteorological observers.

Project manager Jeanette Yuile explains: “In our 25 years of operation, we’ve had zero lost time injuries and have maintained this exceptional record for our work with Shell. Our METNET 3G team received a performance achievement award from Shell for the work on the project, where we have streamlined our quality procedures and upgraded our website to ensure high reliability and better stability. We look forward to further developing this contract, which should also provide a catalyst to help further establish WebMET as a pan-industry real-time system.”