Safety and security of drones in the oil and gas industry

Abstract

This paper describes safety and security challenges and best practices of the use of drones in the oil and gas industry, with consideration of the harsh weather conditions in the Northern Territories of Norway. We have described the present status of the use of drones in air, on water (surface) and under water. Drones are being used in the industry to reduce or remove dangerous, dirty or dull operations from humans and to increase quality of data collection. The Norwegian oil and gas industry and authorities have a high focus on continuous improvement of safety, security and environmental issues. This has for instance resulted in the offshore helicopter transport in Norway to be among the safest offshore transport worldwide. Use of drones in the safety conscious oil and gas industry, should help us to improve the safety practices of drone use in general. Our suggestions are to focus on systematic data reporting of the use of drones, establish guidelines for risk assessments and operations, improve the use and testing of drones in the industry (i.e. build more experience) and support improved robustness and resilience of drone use. In addition, we see the need for improved quality of the interfaces between human operators and drones to ensure meaningful human control.