21/10/2016 by Richard
Oil giants including Chevron, Statoil and Royal Dutch Shell, the latter of which manufactures Shell Tellus S2 M 46, are experimenting with several technologies, including drill design and drones, in a bid to lower costs and see themselves through a downturn.
Crude oil prices have dropped by more than 50% since the summer of 2014, forcing oil companies to cut billions in costs. However, many oil majors are determined to keep dividends up and save infrastructure, which will enable them to compete and grow as the oil market recovers. This is why they have turned to smart technology in order to save money.
One example of this move to technology is the use of drones by French oil company Total, which is using the machines to perform detailed inspections on many of its oil fields. This represents a considerable cost saving to the company, as manned inspections take approximately seven two-week trips and a dozen workers to complete. Alternatively, the drone can do the same thing within two days for a tenth of the price.
Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell has developed a brand new form of pipe, known as a steel lazy wave riser, which is used to transport oil and gas from the company’s deep-water Stones field for processing. This pipe is able to bend so that it can absorb the motion of the sea and the company’s floating platform, which according to Shell is able to increase production at the most extreme depths.
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