Engineering news
The oil and gas businesses could unlock £1 billion worth of revenues by developing innovative technologies for inspecting offshore infrastructure, according to a new report.
The Asset Integrity Theme Landscaping Study, which Oil & Gas UK commissioned from Lockheed Martin, found that companies’ efforts to check installations for corrosion and inspect vessels used to extract oil and gas are being hindered by technology gaps, which are lowering efficiency and increasing costs.
The report said vessel inspection is done manually, which is time-consuming and potentially hazardous, as the technician has to enter confined spaces. Meanwhile, corrosion is difficult to trace because surfaces are covered with insulation, which is costly to remove and may require scaffolding.
The study highlighted a number of technologies that could close the gaps, but said no single technique stood out, and that operators would likely have to combine several different ones to get a result.
Paul White, director of subsea technology at GE Oil and Gas and industry co-chair of the Maximising Economic Recovery for the UK Continental Shelf ER UK Technology Leadership Board, said: “This study explores technologies, such as ultrasonic and electromagnetic techniques, which have the potential to improve internal inspections of process vessels which are used in processes such as the separation of oil and gas and produced water offshore. The deployment of new technologies would allow offshore teams to gather more detailed information on the integrity of these assets enabling them to more rapidly pinpoint priority areas for attention, reduce production downtime during a shutdown and minimise exposure to hazards.
“The report also looks at methods including acoustic resonance and microwave sensing, which could be safely used to reduce the time and costs involved in detecting, inspecting and managing corrosion under insulation in structures, including pipelines. Delivering improvements in these key areas will help efforts to improve asset integrity, contribute to production efficiency and safely extend the operating lives of oil and gas fields.”
The report called for a shortlist of the most promising technologies to be drawn up and for the establishment of industry partnerships to develop and trial new techniques.
They also recommended handing a single organisation the responsibility for drawing up industry standards for new inspection techniques and data sharing, among other things.
The report was put together using input from more than 90 technology-focused representatives working for operators, contractors, SMEs, government, industry bodies, innovation centres and academia.