On July 11, the pioneering firm deployed one of its state-of-the-art uncrewed aircraft from Tingwall in the Shetland Islands to carry out a methane emissions survey of Equinor’s Statfjord B platform, situated on the other side of the UK-Norway maritime boundary.
The operation, which took 4 hours and 50 minutes and involved the aircraft traveling a total of 290 nautical miles, is the first time a civilian cross-border drone flight has been made from the UK and is among the first of its kind in Europe.
The flight forms part of Flylogix’s ongoing work with Equinor to monitor and measure methane emissions from its North Sea infrastructure.
Delivering the operation safely required close coordination with the relevant UK and Norwegian aviation authorities, alongside Equinor’s own operational teams, to ensure the flight met the regulatory requirements of both basins.
Charles Tavner, Flylogix’s CEO, said: “This is a hugely significant moment for Flylogix and for the wider industry. Flying a drone from the UK to survey an asset in Norwegian waters shows that our long-running ambition to deliver remote, cross-border drone operations safely has been realized.
“Norway has always been a key part of our growth strategy—this flight is the clearest possible demonstration of what that expansion looks like and we will now look to take our pioneering solution further afield. We’re grateful to Equinor for their partnership and trust, on which we look forward to building further in the years ahead.
“The North Sea has become a genuine proving ground for our technology and our approach to regulation. Having established what safe, remote drone operations look like in practice, we’re now in a position to take that model to other basins that need to tackle their methane emissions.”
Flylogix’s low-emission, remotely piloted drones offer a safer and lower-cost alternative to conventional aerial survey methods, while significantly reducing the carbon footprint of that work.
Statfjord is one of the oldest producing fields on the Norwegian continental shelf, and the largest oil discovery in the North Sea. It was discovered by Mobil in 1974, with first production coming in 1979. Operatorship of Statfjord transferred to Statoil, now Equinor, in 1987.
The Statfjord B platform, which sits in the southern section of the field in 145 m of water, was installed in 1982 and started production that same year.
Sindre T Johnsen, Polaris ACC, Avinor ANS—the state-owned provider responsible for safe and efficient air traffic control in Norwegian airspace—said: “The successful completion of this operation has been a valuable milestone for the introduction and integration of uncrewed aviation in the North Sea. High standards for operational safety and a harsh environment make this area a challenging task. It is also an area where the potential in uncrewed operations is clearly visible.
“The framework for safe integration of crewed and uncrewed operations is therefore brought forward by accomplishments like this. Close cooperation of Aviation Authorities, Air Navigation Service Providers, Equinor and Flylogix has made this possible.”
