In the sprawling landscapes of oil rigs, refineries, and pipelines, a new breed of worker is quietly making its mark – robots. Once relegated to science fiction, these mechanical marvels are now a vital part of the oil and gas workforce.

Many robot systems are being used for inspection activities on oil rigs. The ANYbotics ANYmal 4-legged inspection robot has been used for routine inspections on offshore platforms. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University built an untethered and remotely controlled robot that visually inspects live gas pipelines, potentially replacing expensive inspections that require excavation and pipeline shutdown.

The goals of implementing robot inspection systems include:

• Reducing the number of inspections humans must do

• Keeping humans out of hazardous environments

• Inspecting equipment while operations are running to avoid shutdowns

• Lowering the cost of inspections while increasing effectiveness

• Identifying issues early with more frequent inspections

Robots’ scope doesn’t stop at inspections, either. 

TotalEnergies has been working to develop a robotic supervision system that can perform various tasks that operators currently handle, including creating drilling connections. Systems like this can reduce the number of personnel needed to operate oil rigs and provide better insight for land-based operations. The goal is not to replace humans but to keep crew members safer and give them new opportunities to capitalize on emerging technologies.

Safety has been a major factor in development and deployment of many emerging technologies in the field.

Transocean partnered with ARC Specialties and Offshore Robotics to build a robotic riser system that keeps humans away from the red zone, the drill ship’s most dangerous area, during riser operations. As of January 2023, there were two such risers operating, with work beginning on a third. See a video of the system in action from before launch last year.

Offshore robotics applications can enhance real-time monitoring without putting humans in dangerous positions that could risk their lives. Robots won’t remove the need for human input, but they can gather sufficient data to significantly decrease false alarms. The future likely looks like humans and robots working together to build a safer, more sustainable industry. 

While many O&G companies report safety as a top reason for regular inspections, most are still relying on humans to inspect assets. Many of these technologies are not widely adopted yet, but the potential is clear.

O&G companies that are adopting these technologies are seeing the benefits, and soon they’ll be ubiquitous.