[ANALYSIS] The Business Case For UAVs In The Oil & Gas Industry

As oil and gas companies are going into deeper and more inhospitable arenas to extract precious reserves, the limitations of the industry’s key asset is holding it back. And that asset, is man himself.

The oil and gas sector has been using unmanned operating systems in the form of submersible remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs)since the 1980s as an invaluable aid to inspections, drilling support and diver assist roles, but until recently, the role of the ROV’s airborne cousin, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), has been virtually non-existent.

With the recent widespread commercialisation of so-called "drone" technology in every walk of business from highway planning to crowd surveillance and parcel delivery, the idea of UAVs as part of an integrated solution in the oil and gas world is really taking off.

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