commercial applications for drones. According to a
company executive, the company “decided to focus on
oil and gas because the barriers to entry are very high, but
there are real problems to be solved and the economics
were better, despite the very low oil price.”
On 23 June 2015, it was announced that the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) will deploy
500 drones and aircraft to monitor pipelines and other
oil installations in a bid to protect the country’s oil and
gas infrastructure from attacks by militant groups. This
decision was followed by tests being conducted since
2003, as the company’s Aerostar Tactical UAVs with
12 hours of flight endurance have been patrolling offshore
oilfields on a regular basis. At night, the Aerostar’s Forward
Looking Infra Red (FLIR) camera reveals the presence of
thieves and potential kidnappers, who often try to reach
the rigs using small boats. Oil leaks and slicks also show up
clearly in infrared, and by detecting them early, Aerostar
has saved oil companies millions in fines, which are
imposed automatically for such leaks.
The French company GRTgaz announced the hiring of
Air Marine, to conduct monthly inspections on many miles
of natural gas pipeline. According to the company press
release, the first pilot inspections took place over the past
few months in southwestern France and ‘confirmed the
worth of this innovative solution’. The company – which
owns and operates pipelines – hopes to use the drones
to complement its current monitoring system of ground-
based inspectors along with piloted flyovers.
The estimated 300 000 miles of natural gas pipelines
that crisscross the US would equal to circumnavigating the
planet 12 times, and could be a great appeal to persuade
companies that there is a lot of money to be saved by
reducing the number of manned flights on these routes.
Figure 2.
Pipeline monitoring at Thyssengas Erdgaslogistik.
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