DNV GL: oil and gas industry pushing towards automation

DNV GL foresees an increasingly automated, digital and smarter future for the oil and gas industry, in its Technology Outlook issued on Tuesday. 

The report, that looks into systems and processes that will be deployed in the oil and gas sectors by 2025, expects substantial development.

Evolution could particularly be expected in subsea production system technology as well as more efficient drilling and well operations, the reports says.

An increase in autonomous pipeline inspection on- and offshore is also expected.

Factors driving the technology development in the oil and gas sector are a global consumption, that is predicted to increase by up to one fifth, cost pressures on the industry, emissions reduction, new policy and regulatory measures and predicted growth in the natural gas production.

The report forecasts that by 2025, the industry will see fully automated drilling operations, simpler and smarter completions, smarter subsea tie-ins, autonomous pipeline inspections.

Additionally, it is expected to have biodegradable polymers for enhanced oil recovery, rigless plugging and abandonment and a wider use of LNG as fuel for trucks and railways.

Bjørn Søgård, Segment director for Subsea and Floaters, DNV GL – Oil & Gas, said, the oil and gas industry has entered has entered a stage “characterized by a willingness to open up for radical new ideas that can reshape industry processes.” 

He sees offshore production and processing systems moving to the seabed as an alternative for platforms and floaters.

Elisabeth Tørstad, CEO of DNV GL – Oil & Gas, said that innovation “is not just about finding the breakthrough technologies”  but also about providing long-term value and cost reductions.

LNG World News Staff