drones

The classification society's first offshore drone survey was conducted on a semisubmersible used to support Statoil's drilling operations in the North Sea.

Up to 30% of oil passing through Niger Delta pipelines is stolen. Protecting thousands of miles of pipeline is challenging. Cleaning up the resulting pollution will take decades.

Operators need to take steps to protect their facilities from drone security breaches by outsiders. The costs an attacker incurs in developing tools to break into and control infrastructure is low compared to the costs an operator incurs in defending against those tools.

General Electric has launched a subsidiary to develop and sell the use of flying, crawling, and swimming drones for inspections in the oil and gas industry, among others, the company announced.

Behind the use of most drones and unmanned aerial vehicles is the issue of safely and legally operating beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). Jim Cieplak talks about his work with Harris Corporation and BVLOS solutions.

SPE’s newly launched technical section will provide a central hub for questions, answers, discussion, collaboration, and networking around unmanned systems for the oil and gas industry.

Developments in the emerging technologies of unmanned vehicles are leading to new land, sea, and air applications in the oil and gas industry.

A closer look at recent unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) regulations and sensor technologies shows the areas in which they could have a major impact on oil and gas projects in the future.

Griff Aviation, a Norwegian company, developed an octocopter that weighs 165 lb, which the company says can lift a payload of up to 496 lb. The Griff 300 aircraft has eight propellers, each powered by a separate motor. Although it can be manually flown using a radio remote control on the ground, an onboard custom helicopter-cabin mobile control is available for the us…

Use of unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor pipeline networks for theft and other issues is discussed.