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China has finished the construction of its first unmanned offshore oil platform on Wednesday at Enping Oilfield in the South China Sea. The platform, named EP10-2, does not have any offices or living quarters. As a result, it’s much cheaper to build and maintain, enabling oil companies to drill fields that are not cost-effective enough for traditional rigs.
The annual maintenance cost for this platform could be 10 million yuan (about $1.49 million), cheaper than its manned equivalent. The size of the platform is significantly smaller than traditional rigs. The deck is reduced to half, and its total weight is only a third of traditional platforms. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), said it has added 10 smart systems to the rig to boost its sensing and remote-control abilities.