Autonomous Technology to Support Offshore Field Development in Russia
Domestic subsea systems and unmanned vehicles are becoming a priority for offshore energy projects.
Gazprom plans to deploy domestically developed subsea production equipment and autonomous technology as it develops offshore fields, Yevgeny Podolyako, head of a department at Gazprom, said at the Hydrotechnical Structures and Dredging congress.
He recalled that in 2024 the company installed a Russian-made subsea wellhead, and in the coming years expects to install domestically produced subsea Christmas tree equipment.
According to Podolyako, the future lies in automated systems, including autonomous unmanned underwater and hybrid vehicles, small unmanned vessels, and other robotic solutions.
Autonomous, Unmanned, and Underwater
In 2025, Gazprom Dobycha Shelf Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk tested a domestically developed autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle in the Sea of Okhotsk. The equipment is designed to monitor the subsea production complex at the Kirinskoye gas condensate field.
The vehicle offers several advantages over remotely operated robots: it can carry out autonomous missions based on a preset program, is less dependent on weather conditions and support vessels, and can operate at higher speeds.
In the future, the company plans to develop specialized AUVs for year-round use in the challenging hydrometeorological and ice conditions of the Kirinskoye field.
