OGIC is investing £300,000 in three projects that aim to improve offshore oil and gas operation efficiency. The projects focus on innovation with the ability to develop an Intelligent Hydrate Tool. The tool will monitor hydrocarbon parameters and make injection adjustments in real-time without the need for human intervention.
The OGIC claims the tool will use machine learning to learn how to properly manage hydrate prevention. The technology will combine artificial intelligence with engineering techniques and tested software to reduce production risks associated with offshore drilling.
Digitizing oil and gas production is a cutting-edge approach of companies, such as FutureOn, which use visual digital dashboards and FieldAP to manage projects using drag-and-drop and visualization precision.
Innovations in the oil and gas industry have helped Scotland keep the country’s gas and oil flowing. The OGIC has approved 26 projects and has collaborated on 50 additional projects to further optimize the drilling process.
OGIC helps fund demand-driven innovations. Universities and companies are sought that can use the funding, such as Scotland’s university system.
The OGIC relies on eight Scottish universities that help build and advance projects in the field.
The University of Aberdeen’s College of Physical Science was funded, helping start RAB-Microfluidics, which has been able to analyze oil samples 1000 times faster, at a tenth of the cost and using “lab-on-a-chip” technology. The technology transforms maintenance strategies in the field with real-time oil analysis. The technology measures all of the oil’s components on a small microchip, including metal content, contamination, acid number, base number, asphalt and even Sulphur content.
RAB-Microfluidics is just one of the many companies that couldn’t have progressed in the industry without the funding and assistance of OGIC.
OGIC plans to also offer funding or CorrosionRADAR, a program out of Robert Gordon University that is working to monitor corrosion with sensors that are mounted in problem areas within pipeline networks. The program will develop technology that includes analytics systems and remote monitoring technology into the complex pipe networks to provide preemptive analysis of systems.
Reactive inspections will be easier as a result of the technology, which is expected to reduce the risk of failure in systems while trimming overall costs. Phoenix RDS will also work with Heriot-Watt University that will develop a new flow control device for use in offshore drilling.
The device will optimize flow control, ensuring that minimal degradation of fluid property is experienced during injection. Scaled models and field trials will be made in an effort to push the project further down the development process.
Companies and research institutes are working to find ways to reduce oil well operation costs while reducing risks. The price of oil continues to rise in 2018 after suffering severe losses over the past three years. Oil prices rose to over $75 a barrel for the first time since November 2014.
Oil prices remain volatile this week following a turbulent start to the week in the United States. U.S. stock market indexes fell dramatically on bond yield increases, pushing the Dow down 300 points and the Nasdaq down 100 points.
