2020 is a year that’ll be remembered for many reasons. COVID-19 aside, it’s been a turning point for the offshore industry, one where net-zero solutions have been top of the agenda, including within well abandonment.Industry and regulators have…
Sitting at 49% of the total cost of decommissioning, wells plugging and abandonment (P&A) has long been high on the hit-list on the decommissioning cost reduction agenda. It’s a task that has no returns on the cost to do it, and activity is increasing…
Old offshore oil wells could be turned into geothermal energy producers under a plan by a new consortium. The group, The Aquarius North Sea Geothermal Consortium, is “actively” working with North Sea operators to see if old wells could be used to generate geothermal energy for existing platforms…
Taking the power to where you want it is another option – perhaps not for compression or pumping system, but potentially for monitoring, inspection, and even intervention systems, such as resident robotics concepts.It’s an idea some have been looking at…
Ten years ago, a future where subsea fields and their power-hungry process equipment could be fully electrified, enabling long step-outs to tap remote reserves with lean new infrastructure architectures, lit the fuse for a spate of investment in subsea power distribution…
The festive season feels somewhat muted this year as, globally, we all grapple with the Coronavirus pandemic.But there is some cheer in the gloom. The annual round of Christmas-themed videos and animations are doing the rounds, albeit perhaps with a few less this year than previous years…
Late 2018, before net-zero targets had been agreed to by most western energy giants and nations, BP came out with a goal to reach 100% of subsea inspection by marine autonomous systems by 2025.It was a tangible goal then, and it’s one that might…
Old offshore oil wells could be turned into geothermal energy producers under a plan by a new consortium.The group, The Aquarius North Sea Geothermal Consortium, is “actively” working with North Sea operators to see if old wells could be used to generate geothermal energy for existing platforms…
Unmanned platforms and underwater vehicles have been providing new ways for ocean scientists to study the ocean in more detail and over longer periods. What happens if one can deploy the other?The advantages of unmanned systems deploying others are multiple…
Pipeline repair isn’t a frequent activity but when it is needed it’s a critical activity. New tools are being developed and demonstrated to also make it safer and more efficient, and yet challenges remain, such as higher pressure, deeper water…
Finland’s Rocsole is hoping to provide operators with better, faster insight into their pipelines through a new compact inline sensor and a large dose of data analytics. Its inspection tool uses electrical tomography and digital signal processing…
Efforts to increase remote capability often go hand in hand with increasing ROV residency. But exactly what form residency takes is diverging. Elaine Maslin takes a look.Dial back the clock five years and there was a movement towards an idea dubbed subsea resident remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)…
Ocean mapping at scale is the target of a new unmanned systems player started by two ex-US Navy SEALS. They have big ambitions, from new building unmanned vehicles to creating the intelligence that will drive them to changing how accessible ocean data is…
Many of the more advanced mechanics of robotic systems are being developed as part of the Offshore Robotics for Certification of Assets (ORCA) Hub in Edinburgh. It’s a publicly funded project led by the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics (Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh)…
Robots and robotics have slowly been entering our lives, in various shapes and forms (and fictional characters), from self-driving household vacuum cleaners to highly automated manufacturing systems. Now they’re heading for the offshore world – in just as many shapes and forms…
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