Drones take flight at OTC

Fuel Fix ^ | May 6, 2015 | Robert Grattan

[thackney]

HOUSTON — Offshore platforms have a lot of hard-to-reach places, and a first-time exhibitor at the Offshore Technology Conference wants to use flying robots to make those tough corners more accessible.

U.K.-based Sky-Futures has built a business using drones to inspect areas such as the underbelly of offshore platforms and burning flare stacks. The company’s co-founder and CEO James Harrison — who spent years working with information-gathering drones in Iraq and Afghanistan — said using the robots to do the inspection work makes it more efficient and safer.

Historically, crews of workers inspecting those spots have had to dangle from ropes to ensure that the structure is sound and everything is running smoothly. Often that means turning off production and dealing with other delays until the inspection is over — an expensive prospect now that oil and gas companies are grasping for every cent of savings they can find.

“If you’ve got a flare tip that’s burning, you can’t send a person up to have a look at it,” Harrison said, “We can inspect these things while they’re still live.”

Robots have a long history in the oil and gas industry, especially in offshore drilling. The OTC’s exhibit floor this year features a number of submersible robots designed to traverse depths and preform complex tasks on the ocean floor.

But flying robots are relatively new. In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration has issued only a handful of permits allowing companies to operate drones commercially.

Two of those permits went to oil giants ConocoPhillips and BP last summer, who both have used the aircraft to supplement their work in Alaska’s tough-to-navigate Prudhoe Bay oil field. Other companies have submitted plans to use drones to monitor onshore pipelines and other oilfield assets.

Sky-Futures received its FAA permission to fly in April and is currently building out its U.S. staff and offices, Harrison said.

The company pulled in roughly $1.4 million in revenue last year from more than 30 international customers. Most of that money, and a small initial fundraising round of $650,000, has been reinvested in the business, he said, especially in trying to build more observant drones.

Each robot the company flies is built on a lightweight frame that’s about three feet wide and four feet long. The drone is light enough to lift with one arm, but comes with a hefty price tag of about $50,000, Harrison said.

Most of that cost comes from the software that keeps the craft stable in winds as high as 29 knots and the high definition camera that helps the drone record what it’s seeing.

The data the drone records is what drives the business, Harrison said. His company employs not only drone pilots, but several analysts who can interpret the video and photos logged and help companies optimize the time they spend on repairs and maintenance.

In one recent outing in Egypt, Harrison said, a Sky-Futures drone inspection at a refinery was able to determine that only two of four flare stacks needed to come offline for maintenance. By cutting down on the work that needed to be done, the refinery was able to save about $4 million, he said.

[thackney]