Robotics Advancements Continue to Transform Oil, Gas, GlobalData Says
Advancements in robotics continue to transform oil and gas operations.
That’s what data and analytics company GlobalData said in a release sent to Rigzone recently, adding that the oil and gas industry has emerged as a significant adopter of the technology to improve safety and efficiency of operations.
“Robots equipped with advanced technologies are yielding increasingly positive results, bringing a continued transformation in the operations of oil and gas companies,” GlobalData said in the release, which highlighted the launch of a GlobalData report on robotics in oil and gas.
GlobalData’s report highlights the role of major oil and gas companies, such as ADNOC, BP, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Repsol, Rosneft, Shell, and TotalEnergies in the development and adoption of robotics to enhance safety and productivity on the field, the release stated.
“Robots are proving invaluable to execute complex tasks at production facilities, thereby protecting workers from hazardous environments and reducing the likelihood of costly shutdowns,” Ravindra Puranik, an oil and gas analyst at GlobalData, said in the release.
“As a result, companies such as Equinor, TotalEnergies, and Shell are deploying them to work alongside humans on offshore sites. For instance, robotic automation can manage remote operations, such as those conducted on Equinor's Oseberg H platform in the North Sea,” Puranik added.
“Their ability to perform repetitive and mundane tasks with minimal errors is saving time and internal resources for companies. Furthermore, it allows them to deploy field technicians on more critical issues,” Puranik continued.
In the release, Puranik said robots provide greater reliability and efficiency in completing assigned tasks while also enhancing operational safety.
“The integration of terrestrial, aerial, and underwater robots is already playing a crucial role in several high-stakes oil and gas projects throughout the value chain,” the analyst added.
“French oil major TotalEnergies, in collaboration with Oceaneering, recently conducted a pilot inspection of subsea pipelines in the North Sea using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs),” the analyst highlighted.
Puranik noted in the release that there is an increase in collaboration between oil and gas companies and technology vendors, “enabling the diversification of robotic use cases with the integration of AI, IoT, cloud, and edge computing”.
“These developments are anticipated to drive future growth in robotics within the oil and gas sector, reducing risks to human workers who operate alongside heavy machinery in often remote and challenging environments,” Puranik added.
ADNOC, BP, ENI, Equinor, Exxon
In a release posted on its site back in March, ADNOC announced today that it generated $500 million (AED1.84 billion) in value by deploying artificial intelligence solutions in 2023.
“The value was generated from the integration of over 30 industry-leading AI tools across ADNOC’s full value chain, from field operations to smarter and quicker corporate decision making,” ADNOC said in that release.
“Together, these applications also abated up to one million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions between 2022 and 2023, the equivalent of removing around 200,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road,” it added.
“The achievement is testament to ADNOC’s longstanding strategy to develop and deploy pioneering technologies such as AI, robotic automation, and advanced data analytics,” it continued.
“The milestone marks the start of a multi-year program to accelerate the deployment of a suite of AI solutions across ADNOC’s value chain to further enhance safety, while driving down emissions and driving up value,” ADNOC went on to state.
A statement posted on BP’s website on May 9, 2022, which accompanied a podcast on robotics, stated that “the next generation won’t see robotics as a novelty”.
“They will be a common place, day to day element of our operations,” it added.
On its website, Eni states that it has “a competence center that develops technologies for the automation and digitalization of plants - from fixed or mobile distributed sensors equipped with their own network for data collection, to robots used on land, at sea and in the air, and data processing systems for engineering use and for managing alarms and related recommendations for action, even in real time”.
“We use the expertise we have established in the industry, applying robotics in our plants to improve safety in the workplace, reducing the exposure of operators to hazardous and remote environments and to allow workers access to unreachable areas,” it adds.
“We design robots to increase the quality, quantity, and reliability of environmental monitoring, industrial operations and asset integrity data; our systems aim to optimize operations in terms of cost and time and to ensure faster and more accurate asset maintenance,” it continues.
A statement posted on Equinor’s site notes that “robots are science fiction no more, and they are not taking over in an uncontrolled manner, as they did in the Czech play”.
“In Equinor, they are supplementary and a tangible, very cool part of digitalization,” it adds.
In a statement posted on ExxonMobil’s website, the company states that it “is the first in our industry to leverage autonomous drilling in deep water”.
“We developed a proprietary drilling advisory system, currently being used in our Guyana operations, that leverages artificial intelligence to determine the ideal parameters for drilling,” it notes.
“It also allows for closed-loop automation, which controls the drilling process without human intervention,” the company goes on to state.
Repsol, Rosneft, Shell, TotalEnergies
In a statement posted on its site, Repsol says “Robotic Process Automation is not only a tool to optimize operational efficiency, but it is also part of our digital transformation strategy towards Industry 5.0”.
“On this path, we are committed to various technologies such as Big Data, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, RPA, omnichannel, robotization, or blockchain,” it adds.
“These tools empower our teams to design new digital products and services that bring a direct benefit to our customers,” it continues.
Rosneft noted in a statement posted on its site in December last year that “the use of robotic complexes in the oil industry allows minimizing equipment downtime and completely eliminating risks to human life and health”.
“The total economic effect from the use of the complex developed by the company’s specialists exceeds 600 million rubles ($6.19 million) per year,” it added at the time.
A statement posted on Shell’s site states that the company uses robotic systems throughout its businesses for a wide range of operations and maintenance tasks.
“Shell is tackling the challenge of oil and gas assets becoming more complex operationally and health, safety, security, and environmental standards that apply in operations becoming more stringent,” the statement notes.
“Robotics addresses the mobility element of the challenge, reducing safety exposure for our people, our contractors and suppliers, and automating data collection for advanced analytics tools to provide proactive leak and corrosion detection,” it adds.
In a statement posted on its site in October last year, TotalEnergies said it is pioneering the development of robotics to operate its sites.
“We cannot use robots to their full potential unless they are incorporated into a consistent operating philosophy,” the statement notes.
“This implies considerations as to the equipment, but also the users and how they use that equipment, given that remote operators of industrial sites will be able to program their robot or robots that have simultaneous operations, without being right next to one another,” it adds.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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