Robots Are Taking Over Oil Rigs… But Not How You Think

About this episode

Andrew Richard discusses the evolution of automation in the oilfield and its implications for the industry.

Andrew Richard, CEO and Co-Founder of Automated Rig Technologies, flies in from Calgary to break down why the oilfield spent 70 years optimizing brute force instead of rethinking the process. He gets into the jointed pipe injector that strips 97% of operator input out, what rig hands call the "barbecue basket," why everyone in oil and gas wants to be first to be second, and the IKEA chatbot that accidentally solved the automation jobs debate. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Calgary, metaverse throwbacks, and meet Andrew 02:20 - What Automated Rig Technologies actually does 05:50 - Starting in the basement in 2009 07:44 - The jointed pipe injector breakdown 09:13 - Red zone risk and the barbecue basket 17:05 - From Energy Tech Night pitch to the Bakken trial 20:22 - How 15 people get in front of major operators 24:14 - Marketing, trust, and selling…

People in this episode

Guest: Andrew Richard

Topics covered

• automation
• oil and gas
• technology
• energy
• job market
• innovation

Keywords

• oil rigs
• automation
• jointed pipe injector
• energy technology
• job debate
• Calgary

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Automated Rig Technologies, IKEA, collide

Places: Calgary, Bakken

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