The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry could save £242 million per year if existing inspection practices are updated, a survey by the OGTC and ABB has found.

The Non Intrusive Inspection Survey recommended that the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector adopt non intrusive inspection (NII) methods in order to keep pace with emerging technologies which would see the industry move gradually away from manual inspection.

At present, the industry predominantly uses intrusive inspection methods, which requires an entire platform to be shut down and the entry of personnel onto platforms as part of a process which seeks to ensure that all vessels and tanks are safe and operational.

Adopting NII would no longer require the shutdown of platforms or the entry of personnel into vessels, increasing productivity and reducing maintenance costs. The report suggests that introducing NII would see the average cost of inspection fall from an average of £236k per vessel to £44k.

Non-intrusive inspection also brings environmental benefits, reducing the risk of hydrocarbon leakage and putting an end to the need to dispose of residues from vessel cleaning. The OGTC found that 80% of process vessels could be examined non-intrusively.

Industry experts have claimed that the uptake of NII is key if the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector is to remain competitive. Troy Stewart, UK head of ABB Service, Oil, Gas and Chemicals, stated that, “Onshore process industries have reaped the benefits of NII for many years, but uptake in UK North Sea has been slow.”

“The survey is the first step in changing the mind-set on vessel entry by increasing the adoption of NII in the UKCS.”

Rebecca Allison, Asset Integrity Solution Centre Manager at the OGTC, echoed Stewart’s sentiment. She commented that “NII provides a real opportunity to improve the competitiveness of the UK North Sea and help maximise economic recovery.”

“One of our key objectives is to eliminate vessel entry for inspection by 2026 and NII is critical to delivering this. We’re working with industry partners to demonstrate that the significant safety and costs benefits outlined in the survey can be achieved.”

“We hope this survey and recent field trials will help break down the barriers to implementing NII and spark a technology transformation in offshore inspection techniques.”