3 Short-term weather forecasts for platform installation

All phases of offshore oil operations can derive benefit from the use and application of reliable and accurate meteorological data, whether it be climatological wind and wave data for preoperational planning or for design purposes or real-time weather forecasts for ongoing operations. It is not only in the comparatively harsh and hostile environment typical of the North Sea or the east coast of Canada that such data may be required, but also in the more benign areas such as the Arabian Gulf or the Red Sea. One can understand readily the need for and the application of weather data in the North Sea, but it is perhaps less clearly understood that accurate data is also of importance in less severe environments since the drilling rigs, production platforms and support vessels are generally designed to the weather conditions in which they are to operate.