Offshore oil production rigs in Norway are increasingly controlled remotely onshore. The experiment on controlling offshore rigs remotely began seven years ago. Norway has since become the testing ground for the technology. The crash in oil prices accelerated this trend, as it can help companies to cut costs. Equinor said onshore control allowed it to save on helicopter transport. It can also reduce costs on extra payments to workers for being offshore, which could amount to nearly 50% of the salary.
Equinor began implementing remote control technology at its Valemon oil and gas field In 2017, the first in the country to do so. Equinor ensures onshore operators to be familiar with the rigs by requiring them to spend two weeks offshore every year. Equinor also plans to operate its Martin Linge field onshore starting in 2021, while considering to build onshore control rooms for small and medium-sized platforms.
Aker BP’s offshore platform in the Ivar Aasen field is operated on land by about 14 workers, while about 50 people work on the rig. The company also plans to remotely control future production rigs, including in the NOAKA development, in Norway’s North Sea. Both companies said they moved the control onshore gradually and ensured on-site workers to be able to take over control if needed.
The new technology, however, sparks concerns about the safety of offshore workers that still carry out jobs on-site. The Lederne worker union launched a strike earlier this month demanding workers to be included in discussions about their safety and moving controls onshore. Meanwhile, the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) said remote controls had so far caused no incidents.
