Robotic technology in the oil and gas industry is a growing trend. A report by International Data Corporation said the worldwide robotics market will be worth $135.4 billion in 2019. Despite their size and potential investment capital, the oil and gas industry hasn’t previously been a huge adopter of new robotics technology. However, this is changing.

Examples of robotic technology includes remotely-operated aerial drones, automated underwater vehicles, robotic drills and much more. Robotic vehicles are also being used offshore to inspect and make minor subsea repairs. The less manpower required offshore and in unknown conditions the better. Downtime on an oil rig or other drilling site is also expensive so robots are helping solve this problem to boost productivity. They are also removing redundant and routine tasks and automating them.

Besides precision, consistency and repetition, safety is one of the top priorities for robotics in the oil and gas industry. Due to vigorous and dangerous situations that oil and gas work can cause workers, automating the industry has led to much safer working conditions. This is especially important in offshore working conditions. For example, Iron Roughneck, the which is a robot used in the oil and gas industry, removes the dangerous task of connecting drill pipes as they are pushed through kilometres of ocean water and rock.

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Let’s take a look at NOVOS. 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 well-bore?’

The oil and gas industry is a boom and bust industry in the fact that the price of oil has seen large increases and decreases over the past century. High prices have meant soaring profits and possibly large inefficiencies in the production portion. This becomes even more obvious as of lately with lower prices, the afforadability is not available when it comes to these inneficiencies.

For more information about building customized machinery and robotics for automation contact us here at BP Automation