Bow-tie Analysis of Underwater Robots in Offshore Oil and Gas Operations

Abstract

Deepwater drilling exploration takes place in cold, distant, and extremely high-pressure environments. It poses a great threat to human life and environment, and incurs higher cost of production than conventional drilling operations. To improve efficiency with increased production, offshore oil and gas industry introduced robotics technology in many underwater drilling and production operations. Implementation of robots also introduced complexity and added risks to the processes. The present study aims at identifying hazards and assessing risks associated with using underwater robots in offshore oil and gas production. Once potential scenarios caused by robotic failures are identified, consequences could be developed, and risk assessment could be done by traditional methods. The specific objectives of the current research are: to study robotics technologies used in offshore platforms primarily, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV); to understand their roles and limitations in oil and gas production; to study potential threats leading to underwater robot-robot collision or robot-structure collision; to evaluate all possible consequences due to collision; to recommend necessary safety barriers for identified threats.