Offshore Energy Automation: A Case for Humans and Robots Working Together

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There have been more than enough deadly incidents on oil rigs:

  • The 1988 Piper Alpha explosion that killed 167 workers

  • The 1980 Alexander L Kielland explosion in the North Sea that killed 123 people

  • The 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and fire that killed 11 workers

And that’s just a few that come to mind. This should be beyond enough evidence to warrant a cohesive effort to move toward using robots to help keep humans safe and leaving humans to do the work we’re best at. 

From Forbes

From Forbes

“AI-based machines are fast, more accurate, and consistently rational, but they aren’t intuitive, emotional or culturally sensitive,” wrote David De Cremer and Garry Kasparov in the Harvard Business Review. “And, it’s exactly these abilities that humans possess and which makes us effective.”

In a recent Forbes article, Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti, chief energy officer at the University of Houston, points out, “Teams and infrastructure could be built of humans and robots working together to capitalize on the advantages of both. Equinor, for example, is planning to use their unmanned platforms to make additional discoveries near existing fields, thus extending the field life of these plays and making them more profitable.”

How can offshore operators work to further integrate automation while keeping humans employed and safe? In that same Forbes article, Dr. Krishnamoorti points out that it will take:

  • Standardization of equipment and designed infrastructure

  • Uniform and adaptive regulations that keep up with the latest advances in technology

  • A workforce that is robot-ready and can integrate automation into the workflow seamlessly

Standardization and regulation go hand in hand. In the U.S., the regulatory climate is a big roadblock for robots on offshore platforms. After the BP Deepwater Horizon accident there was more careful enforcement of rules. But there wasn’t a sweeping change to the regulatory approach that would allow for technology advancements to increase safety on a broader basis. 

By contrast, the off-shore European industry follows regulations that apply performance-based—i.e., results-based—standards. European regulations permit full automation, while U.S. regulations do not. The lack of consistency makes it difficult for the same company to standardize its offshore platform operations globally.

Alongside regulations, a big concern for the energy industry and its workforce is the extent to which robots could eliminate jobs. It will come down to using the strengths of humans and robots together to make the industry safer and more efficient.

As Lady Gaga would say, “Yeah something about, baby, you and AI.”