\u201cWhen a hurricane hits and we have to evacuate, we don\u2019t produce a single drop of oil,<\/a>\u201d said Kevin McMahon, vice president of production assets in the Gulf of America. \u201cHaving platform-based drones allows us to perform inspections sooner after the storm has passed, putting us ahead of the game,\u201d he said in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company, the largest producer in the Gulf of Mexico, said the investment is \u201cin the thousands\u201d while it could save nearly $50 million over three years by opening the oil spigots a day sooner following powerful storms. The first drone of its IRN-Maiden project \u2014 sporting a logo styled after its namesake, the British heavy-metal band \u2014 is expected to be installed before the end of the year. The drone will be placed in one of the platforms of the Mars project, a deep-water oil and gas development in the Gulf, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) south of New Orleans.<\/p>\n Gearing back up after a hurricane is a timely issue. Hurricane Isaias, the first such storm in the Atlantic this year, is barreling toward the US Gulf Coast and was expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday. Roughly 63% of US Gulf of Mexico crude\u00a0output has been shut in\u00a0by early Friday, while nearly 500,000 barrels a day of refining capacity lies in or near the storm\u2019s projected path. Several ports are also shutting ahead of the hurricane, disrupting seaborne crude deliveries.<\/p>\n Hurricanes, which are becoming more destructive as warming oceans fuel stronger storms, are among the biggest threats to oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. Platforms can remain shut for days or weeks after a storm passes<\/a>, with crews unable to return until inspectors determine that conditions are safe. Winds exceeding 170 miles per hour and waves towering over offshore facilities can make those assessments particularly difficult.<\/p>\n Restarting an oil platform is a meticulous multi-step process, including flying a helicopter to assess if conditions are safe before sending people back in. Peering through long-range binoculars, the inspectors use cameras to capture photos and video and relay the footage back to Shell\u2019s storm recovery center. This is a process that can take a whole day, including mobilizing inspectors, helicopters and wait time. Crews sometimes must hold off until the hurricane passes before they can get anything off land.\u00a0<\/p>\n By using drones, the company hopes to save time by deploying the battery-powered gadgets straight from the platforms. The 2 1\/2-foot-wide drones \u2014 roughly the size of two large pizzas, side-by-side \u2014 can fly over and around the\u00a0football-field-size offshore facility using powerful lenses that can zoom in and out on command to check for leaks and damaged equipment while transmitting live reports to shore over Starlink, SpaceX\u2019s \u00a0satellite broadband.<\/p>\n While drones have been widely used to inspect refineries, pipelines, and chemical plants, their use in international waters, where offshore platforms are typically located, was limited due to a lack of specific regulation by the Federal Aviation Administration. Shell obtained an FAA waiver earlier this year, a process that took two years. \u00a0 The drones will be based in a hurricane-proof box.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time any other operators got those helicopters or fixed wings out there, we\u2019ve already probably done some incredibly detailed surveys of any damage and are always starting to plan what the next steps are,\u201d said Ross Doak, senior robotics engineer leading the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n Property insurers in the US have been\u00a0using\u00a0long-distance drones to assess storm damage since Hurricane Florence in 2018. Electric utilities have been using them even\u00a0longer\u00a0to inspect wind and solar sites and\u00a0spot\u00a0faulty equipment. Researchers at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration <\/a>have also experimented with uncrewed\u00a0aircraft\u00a0and\u00a0ocean vehicles\u00a0to collect data for improving hurricane predictions, and Norway has been\u00a0using\u00a0drones in the North Sea.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/gcaptain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/470482416-800x534.jpg\")
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