bp invests £3m into remote flight operator Flylogix
Oil giant bp has invested £3 million into pioneering unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) business Flylogix.
The investment, made through bp ventures, is part of a funding round led by Amati Global Investors, totalling £6 million.
Flylogix will use the funding round to expand to new geographies, including the US, Norway and Trinidad & Tobago. It will also crossover into the biodiversity and renewable energy industries, conducting wind turbine blade inspections for offshore sites.
The Fareham-based company combines its UAV with artificial intelligence, satellite communications and methane sensor technology to monitor and measure methane in some of the most remote and relentless locations in the world.
READ MORE: How Flylogix is leading the world in remote flights
Flylogix has carved out a niche in the energy sector through its measurement of methane levels on oil and gas platforms.
It counts bp Shell, TotalEnergies, Equinor, Harbour Energy, Repsol Sinopec, TAQA and Neptune amongst its client base.
David Hayes, managing partner of bp ventures, said: “We are investing in companies that can help us with our Net Zero ambition and aims. And Flylogix has been instrumental in how we undertake measurements of methane emissions in the North Sea. Accurate emissions measurements are the basis upon which mitigation plans are based – we look forward to continuing our partnership with Flylogix as it expands into new regions.”
The investment supports bp‘s Aim 4 of installing methane measurement on all existing major oil and gas processing sites by 2023 and deliver a 50% reduction in methane intensity across its operations.
Flylogix, which holds the UK record for the longest commercial drone flight, has worked with bp since 2018, to monitor assets across the UK North Sea. Its unmanned aircrafts take measurements that verify emissions safely, reliably and consistently, helping to validate the accurate reporting of emissions data.
During the flight, the aircraft manages itself autonomously with pilot oversight from shore. It can fly as close as 250m away from installations. Flylogix then live streams data collected by a SeekOps sensor on its wingtip to the onshore support crew.
This technique provides bp and other operators with accurate and quantifiable emission data which can improve how that data is assessed and collated.
This method of methane monitoring supports bp and the wider industry in its efforts to monitor and drive down emissions from its operations without the need for additional people offshore and the cost and carbon emissions associated with that.
Charles Tavner, CEO of Flylogix, said: "This latest investment will help Flylogix bring our proven UAV technology to new regions and develop applications to realise the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles. It is a significant moment for the business. We see endorsement from bp as a vote of confidence and are proud to build on our existing partnership, in pursuit of net zero.”
READ MORE: Three key lessons from scaling up a start-up business
