“Of course, there is always a risk and things can go wrong, so you have to be focused on safety even during your spare time,” he added.Īker BP took a step further last year when its Ivar Aasen field became the first manned offshore platform to be managed remotely. I don’t think anybody feels uneasy about it today,” Eide told Reuters, speaking on a phone from the Valemon platform where he is part of a 19-member crew deployed there for a two-week shift. “People were initially sceptical, but gradually you get used to it. Jarle Eide, a representative of the Industri Energi union at Equinor, said workers were more confident than before in the use of remote controls. Production is managed in a control room in Bergen but its operators have to spend two weeks offshore every year to make sure they are familiar with the rig. It has living quarters and a control room, but most of the time has no crew. Some 160 kilometres (99 miles) from land, Equinor’s Valemon oil and gas field became the first in Norway to be operated entirely onshore in 2017.