The Statoil Underwater Intervention Drone (UID™) strategy describes the future use of remotely operated, semi-autonomous and autonomous underwater vehicles for subsea operations. The impact for Statoil will be higher production efficiency (PE), lower operational expenditure (OPEX), lower HSE risk and lower carbon footprint for new and existing oil and gas producing fields with subsea facilities and installations. The underwater intervention drone technology will be an enabler for more cost efficient field development for marginal fields and fields located in challenging conditions.

A UID™ is a new collective term used for all types of underwater vehicles performing tasks under sea surface related to the oil and gas industry. The industry has many specific abbreviations for this type of vehicle e.g.; WROV, ROV, RROV, EROV, AUV, AIV, etc. UID™ is in this context a common name for all these abbreviations.

The future UID™ is believed to be merging of the traditional ROVs and AUVs towards a vehicle manoeuvring in all directions and with hover capabilities in the sea column with remote control and/or autonomous programming. The future UID™ will be powered by an integrated battery and/or power source, that can be charged from a subsea docking station or by tether or umbilical to a structure that enables power and communication back to shore/control room/Operator. Typically, the UID™ can be operated from offshore (platform/vessel/rig) or onshore and can be submerged over longer periods (>one year). The paper will present a description of the UID™ concept and strategic approach to the industry.