Robotics and Automation: The Oil, Gas Skillsets of the Future
Robotics, by definition, encompasses several different types of engineering that work to develop robots, which are then used to substitute for humans in a myriad of work environments.
Robotics engineering isn’t new; however, it has gained steam in recent years in the oil and gas industry as companies work toward safer, more efficient means of operations.
“We’ve been working on a strategy for four to five years on adopting a much higher degree of automation in the rigs and automating surface equipment, developing a manless floor and automating directional drilling,” Dennis Smith, vice president of corporate development and investor relations for Nabors Industries Ltd., told Rigzone.
Nabors acquired Robotic Drilling System AS (RDS) Sept. 5, in a move that Smith called “strategically valuable.”
“We’ve been working with RDS for several years on developing a system for some of our rigs,” said Smith. “If you look back 40 years ago in the automotive industry, the first robots were doing welding on cars … the majority of the employees at RDS come from the automotive industry.”
Why Robotics and Automation Belong in Oil, Gas
For an industry that has seen drastic cuts in investments, workforce numbers slashed and projects stalled thanks to the more-than-two-year oil glut, finding a way to get work done was high priority for oil and gas companies.
Smith said the enhancement of safety is the biggest paramount consideration in the shift to more robotics and automation.
We’re working on “getting people out of the way handling pipe and doing it mechanically,” he said.
Other valuable parts are precision, consistency and repetition. Smith said robots can operate at peak efficiency virtually all the time until they break down – and then they can be repaired.
“In the drilling space, most people look at robotics as ‘how do we move tubulars from Point A to Point B?’” said Frank Springett, National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) director of engineering for research and development and NOVOS. “NOV’s been doing robotics in that sense for more than 50 years … looking at just the mechanization and the machine – it’s been happening for quite a while.”
The company’s latest foray into automated sequencing has been through NOVOS, a process automation platform that manages rig equipment to execute drilling programs. NOV has been working on NOVOS for five years.
“NOVOS is taking it to the next level with process automation,” Springett told Rigzone. “Process automation is not necessarily looking at ‘how do I move pipe from Point A to Point B?’ It’s ‘how are we manufacturing a wellbore?’”
With how efficient drilling operations are today, the importance of automation is becoming more prevalent, Springett said. He maintains that it is still a huge part of NOV’s strategy.
“With the downturn, we have to be very selective of what we invest in,” he said. “We see process automation has far greater reach into impact to customer operations than just one specific machine. Automation is a pretty big and important part of our strategy right now.”
12
View Full Article
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- USA Commercial Crude Oil Inventories Increase
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Oil Demand Outpaces Expectations, Testing Calculus on Peak Crude
- House Passes Protecting American Energy Production Act
- TotalEnergies Restarts Production in Denmark's Biggest Gas Field
- USA Oil and Gas Job Figures Jump
- Republican Lawmakers Say IEA Has Abandoned Energy Security Mission
- Blockchain Demands Attention in Oil and Gas
- Houthis Warn Saudi Arabia of Retaliation If It Backs USA Attacks
- Macquarie Sees USA Oil Production Exiting 2024 at 14MM Barrels Per Day
- Summer Pump Prices Set to Hit $4 a Gallon Just as Americans Hit the Road
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension