A subsidiary of Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production has formed a new joint venture company called ZeaQuest to develop robotics and artificial intelligence technology for subsea engineering services.

The Thailand-based joint venture is between Singapore's Mermaid Maritime and Thailand's AI and Robotics Ventures (ARV), a subsidiary of EPTech Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PTTEP.

The aim of the partnership is "to develop robotics and artificial intelligence technology to provide commercial subsea engineering services to oil and gas companies, and renewable energy corporates operating in offshore businesses, both in Asia and other regions," Mermaid said.

Chalermchai Mahagitsiri, chief executive of Mermaid, said: “What our customers expect from us are cutting-edge technologies and competent personnel. Therefore, the partnership between Mermaid and ARV is a significant strategic move that will uplift Mermaid’s subsea services to be more efficient, by deploying robotics and AI technologies developed by ARV."

In the initial phase, ZeaQuest plans to use these technologies in inspection, repair and maintenance; infrastructure installation support; and subsea engineering services for national oil and gas companies in Southeast Asia, and later expand these services to the Middle East and the rest of the world, added Mahagitsiri.

Thana Slanvetpan, general manager of ARV, said his company specializes in research and development of AI and robotics technologies for petroleum exploration and production and non-E&P industries.

"These innovative technologies are invented to serve businesses across the globe, through Mermaid’s robust customer base," said Slanvetpan.

ARV is developing technologies including an inspection-class autonomous underwater vehicle or “Xplorer”, a subsea flowline control and repair robot or “Nautilus”, and software and data analytics technologies utilizing Internet of Things which ARV aims to commercialize by 2021.

Production

Thai partnership to pursue new subsea technologies