SBM Offshore Fuels Oil & Gas with Digital Twins, Robotics

SBM Offshore India, a wholly owned subsidiary of SBM Offshore, a Dutch-based global group of companies selling systems and services to the offshore oil and gas industry, is constantly fueling its digital transformation journey using AI.

In an exclusive interview with AIM, Jaap-Harm Westhuis, technology innovation and product development director at SBM Offshore, discussed digital twins as a training ground for artificial intelligence.

The Use of Digital Twin

“For us, the digital twin—or the Digital FPSO (floating, production, storage, and offloading) project, as we called it 10 years ago—was one of the foundational projects of our digital journey.” 

Westhuis emphasised that AI and other tools requiring training can be developed and tested using the digital twin. Wherever feasible, the team’s experience and expertise, particularly in design and performance, can be utilised during the design phase.

“These include simulation and process simulation models, which can train agents or artificial intelligence on the digital twin components before they are exposed to real-world scenarios,” Westhuis said.

“We already have what we refer to as digital agents—essentially digital programs that process and act on the data generated by our FPSOs,” he added, explaining that the purpose of developing their own digital agents is to perform tasks like abnormal behaviour detection.

“Sometimes, an anomaly might not indicate a significant issue—it could be a malfunctioning sensor or instrument—but the system enables thorough investigation,” Westhuis mentioned.

He also said that the implementation of these agents is currently focused primarily on processing systems, such as mechanical equipment, and more traditional components like mooring systems.

The FPSOs are vast structures exceeding 300 meters in length and 60 meters in width, with a storage capacity of 2 million barrels. Anchored in deep waters, they are secured by mooring lines that extend up to 1500 meters to the seabed.

“To mitigate potential risks, we use agents to monitor factors like position, tensioning, and environmental data.” Westhuis further said that they continue to expand their portfolio of digital agents to mine data effectively and ensure this data becomes readily available for their onshore teams as well.

Robots Doing Inspection

The conversation slowly veered off towards the company’s in-house robotics program. “We have a robotics program at SBM Offshore, which is part of our technology initiatives. It’s focused on replacing activities that are potentially harmful to people offshore,” Westhuis added.

He explained that every five years, the company needs to inspect and verify the integrity of various systems on vessels. These tasks often include activities such as tank cleaning, which necessitates personnel entering hazardous areas to carry out inspections. 

“Instead of sending inspectors and third-party personnel offshore, they could send robots equipped with cameras and sensors to work,” Westhuis said.

He went on to explain, “One obvious application is using robotics for tasks like inspecting large towers. Normally, you’d have to send people up 100 meters, but with robots equipped with drones, cameras, and sensors, we can handle those inspections more efficiently and safely.”

India has Great Potential

With over 60 years of deepwater marine expertise, SBM Offshore has its GCC operations in India and sees the country as a promising ground for advancements.

“The fact that we’ve established a full-fledged company here—not just a joint venture or subcontracting arrangement, but an equal entity in SBM Offshore to actively support our project—is a testament to the great potential we see in South-East Asia, and particularly in India,” Westhuis said.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, SBM Offshore India contributes to the company’s global EPCIO (engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and operations) projects.

Westhuis mentioned that one of the reasons for his visit to India was to understand the contributions being made by the different teams in brownfield services. This is why SBM Offshore already has an independent facility in Bengaluru supporting activity and operations-related areas such as data management, integrity, and reliability.

“However, most of the work hours here are dedicated to our EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) functions, which support global projects. That sums up the main reasons for my visit,” he added.
As per the GCC policy document unveiled at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024, Karnataka hosts over 875 GCCs, over 30% of India’s total, employs 6 lakh people (35% of India’s GCC workforce) and contributes $22.2 billion annually. By 2029, the state targets 1,000 GCCs, 3,50,000 new jobs, and $50 billion in output.