According to GlobalData, the single major advantage of robotics is automation, which drives other improvements in efficiency, productivity, and safety
Robots have applications across the oil and gas industry in various tasks – ranging from surveys, material handling, and construction, to inspection, repair, and maintenance, according to GlobalData, a data and analytics company.
Also, it stated that they can be customised for various tasks to ease the work and improve efficiency.
During the planning phases of an oil and gas project, robots can be deployed to conduct aerial surveys, or they can be employed to conduct seismic surveys during exploration.
It added that aerial or underwater drones can be adopted depending on the project location and work requirements.
According to GlobalData, the single major advantage of robotics is automation, which drives another efficiency, productivity, and safety improvements.
Automation enables extensive inspection and maintenance tasks to be conducted while feeding back data to help limit operational costs and improve efficiency, it stated.
It added that advances in modular and customisable robots are expected to result in the growing deployment of robotics in the oil and gas industry.
GlobalData, in its thematic report, ‘Robotics in Oil & Gas’, pointed out that while robotics had been a part of the oil and gas industry for several decades, growing digitalisation and integration with AI, cloud computing, and IoT have helped diversify robot use cases within the industry.
Anson Fernandes, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, said, “A huge number of robots are now being deployed in oil and gas operations, including terrestrial crawlers, quadrupeds, aerial drones, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).”
“Robots have applications across the oil and gas industry in various tasks ranging from surveys, material handling, and construction to inspection, repair, and maintenance,” he stated.
Fernandes said they can be customised for various tasks to ease the work and improve efficiency.
During the planning phases of an oil and gas project, robots can be deployed to conduct aerial surveys, or they can be employed to conduct seismic surveys during exploration. He noted that aerial or underwater drones can be adopted depending on the project location and work requirements.
Fernandes said robotics was a fast-growing industry.
“It was worth $52.9 billion in 2021 and will reach $568 billion by 2030, recording a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 per cent. Robots will be the industry’s growth engine, and the oil and gas sector will greatly benefit from emerging use cases,” he stated, citing GlobalData forecasts.
According to him, the volume of robotics use cases in the oil and gas industry is expected to grow rapidly with digitalization.
“Industrial robots with analytical support from digital technologies is expected to become the mainstay across the oil and gas industry, especially in the upstream sector, where personnel safety and operational security concerns are heightened,” he added.
