An AUV during a U.S. Navy Exercise. (Credit: Bluefin Robotics)

A new report released by Westwood Energy examines the growing use of AUVs for life-of-field inspections at offshore oil and gas operations. Most useful in deepwater operations, AUVs are used by navies and scientific researchers around the globe, and their use will increase across the oil and gas industry as a tool for inspecting subsea infrastructure.

The latest “AUV Demand 2013-2022: Commercial Sector” report points to increased commercial demand as AUV use becomes more cost-effective than redundant ROVs commonly used in the oil and gas industry.

According to Westwood, “AUVs could very soon be constantly patrolling deepwater pipelines and infrastructure, remotely docking on subsea charging stations in-between inspections.”