Best Practice Of Utilizing Drones For Surveying And Mapping In The Bahrain Oil Field
Authors: Puripanda Naresh Kumar , Nooraldeen Yasser , Derbas Zainab , Alnowakhtha Ali , Abdulsalam Abdulkhayum 
Published: November 2020

Surveying and mapping in the oil and gas industry is time-consuming, difficult and often dangerous. Tatweer Petroleum introduced advanced Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones as a tool to allow the surveyors and mappers to collect unlimited aerial data with high precision measurements, while saving time, money, and manpower, with safe best practices. Tatweer Petroleum integrates the results obtained from drones with its Spatial Data Infrastructure of day-to-day operations in the Bahrain Field (or "Field) in order to implement the best Geographical Information Systems (GIS) practices.

Tatweer Petroleum has introduced advanced Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones to address the unique needs of its daily operations by providing safe, efficient, and cost-effective surveying and surveillance solutions. Tatweer Petroleum integrates the results of Drones with its Spatial Data Infrastructure for day-to-day Operations in the Bahrain Field in order to implement the best Geographical Information Systems (GIS) practices.

Drones as a tool to allow the surveyors and mappers to collect unlimited aerial data with high precision measurements, while saving time, money, and manpower, with safe best practices. Moreover, Tatweer Petroleum’s drones solution simplifies the surveying process with pre-defined mapping missions where the pilots deploy the drones on site, and analyze and process the data at Tatweer Petroleum Headquarters. Drones have provided considerable improvements in Terrain Mapping, Stockpile Volume Calculations, and Site Planning.

Using advanced UAVs, Tatweer Petroleum is shifting from Traditional surveying to Drone technology. Using this technology, the Company captures highly accurate best-in-class Orthophotos of up to 2 cm resolution in the Bahrain Field to update infrastructure information. This technology helped Tatweer Petroleum generate 3D models (Digital Terrain Models and Digital Surface Models) of the quarry areas within the Bahrain Field. Tatweer Petroleum uses such meodels to identify the encroachments of the quarries within the Field, demarcating the zones of the quarry areas, calculating the volumes of the stockpiles, and other analysis. The most notable advantage of using drones is the ability to obtain on-demand aerial data for Terrain Mapping, Stockpile Volume Calculations, Site Planning, and control encroachments within the Field. Drone data is processed and analyzed for use by petroleum engineers, geology & geophysical, and GIS professionals. Drones play a major role in updating spatial data, integrating results with its Spatial Data Infrastructure for day-to-day operations in the Bahrain Field, and implementing the best GIS practices.

This paper demonstrates best practices in utilizing drone technology for capturing on demand Orthophotos, generating 3D models, updating spatial data, and providing necessary inputs for analytical studies. These studies are being used in all domains within the oil and gas industry that are necessary for production enhancements. Drones play a vital role not only in surveying and mapping, but also in security, inspection, and maintenance.