BP Remotely Pilot ROV in U.K. from Shore in Norway

Subsea services company, Oceaneering, has said it has successfully completed the first onshore remote piloting of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in the U.K. sector for BP. The operations were conducted from Oceaneering's onshore Remote Operations Centre in Norway.

Oceaneering was tasked with observing drilling operations at BP's Clair Ridge platform (west of Shetland) and 141 meters water depth. The operation ran from July to August 2021. "ROV remote piloting from shore can increase the environmental footprint of operations, potentially achieving up to 25% reduction in offshore personnel on board (POB) and provide a significant reduction in emissions associated with the work" Oceaneering said.

According to Oceaneering, the Stavanger - based remote piloting team operated the ROV for over 70 hours during the campaign programme with 100% up time. The execution of this project was achieved by a global support team compromising members from the U.K., Norway, India, and the U.S.

Tom Fuller, who is the VP Wells at North Sea said "The success of this innovative solution at Clair Ridge builds increased credibility and familiarity to remove ROV operations and familiarity to remove ROV operations. By using experts located onshore in Norway instead of offshore personnel, the safety risk was reduced" He continued "It's also a great example of how remote technologies can deliver emissions reductions on our assets, aligning with BP's ambition to be a net zero company by 2025 or sooner. This project has helped bp to better understand the benefits and challenges of implementing remotely piloted ROVs - learning that we can take forward in to future opportunities here and across our global operations"

Katy Heidenreich, OGUK’s Supply Chain & Operations Director, said: “This project demonstrates how operators are empowering supply chain companies to develop innovative techniques to help cut greenhouse gas emissions. Industry collaboration is bringing innovative technologies to the fore and accelerating the process for getting them from field trials to deployment in the North Sea, helping us on the journey to deliver the UK’s target of net zero emissions in 2050.”

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