Head Office

Risehow Hydraulic Center
Flimby, Maryport
CA15 8PA
01900 816000

Leconfield Office

Leconfield Industrial Estate
Cleator Moor
CA25 5QB
01900 816000

Barrow Office

Flass Lane
Barrow in Furness
LA13 0GW
01229 486276

Oil & Gas

Forth delivers innovative engineering solutions to the Oil & Gas sector globally, specialising in advanced remotely deployed inspection, maintenance, and decommissioning technologies.

We are dedicated to enhancing safety, operational efficiency, and sustainability across the offshore asset lifecycle.

Our expertise includes specialised technologies such as modular pig retrieval tools designed for safe and swift pipeline maintenance, and the Restricted Access Inspection System, enabling precise detection of defects in hard-to-access infrastructure like caissons.

Additionally, our CHIMERA platform, a semi-autonomous robotic system, revolutionises internal pressure vessel inspections by significantly reducing downtime, cost, and risk, ensuring compliance with rigorous industry standards without compromising containment integrity.

Through continuous innovation and collaboration, Forth sets new benchmarks in safety and efficiency, helping operators maintain and extend the lifecycle of critical Oil & Gas assets.

 The following are pictures of Power EFL’s being assembled at Forth

Pigging is a standard process within the Oil and Gas industry involving the deployment of a specialist cleaning device (known as a pig) down a process pipeline using the downstream process pressure to drive it to the end of the line. The pig is then removed to allow the continuation of plant production. The pig position can differ at the end of the pipeline due to the varying pressure and friction forces encountered in the pipeline during the process.

Forth's Pig Retrieval Tool

Forth developed a modular tool spread that integrates an ATEX Zone 1 pneumatic winch to a receiving cradle for the pig, which is then coupled to a lightweight, self-supported and centralised long reach grabbing device (adjustable up to 15m), using an auto locking grab at the front of the assembly, which latches to the pig upon contact with the pig’s latching point.

This is used in tandem with a front mounted ATEX Zone 1 camera linked to a topside viewing monitor, to provide a feedback loop to the operator, which reduces manual handling and operating time to allow swift return to production as well as improving the ultimate safety of the process.

Our team built a pioneering, remotely controlled Emergency Response Robot capable of withstanding hazardous environments on a 1.6 tonne JCB compact excavator platform and fitted with a specialist robotics system and wireless technology.

The robot is capable of towing a trailer with a fitted hopper that can disperse a bund of sand to contain any type of spillage, and it also has an affixative spraying system attached that is used to assist in the containment of a nuclear spillage.

Other features include a large grapple hook that will be
used to move any obstruction the robot may come across, as well as a specialist 700bar rescue tool to cut through any obstacles.

The industry has developed over time to produce oil and gas in a more efficient and sustainable way. This development has created a demand in the market for innovative and efficient ways to support lifetime extension programmes of existing assets and infrastructure. One key area of this is late life asset inspections, often complex due to access issues and risk in gathering information from remote and restricted areas. Forth has developed a Restricted Access Inspection System.

There is a demand in the market for innovative and efficient ways to support lifetime extension programmes of existing assets and infrastructure. One key area is the asset caisson (seawater inlet, outlet pipes) which suffer from excessive corrosion and fatigue life problems.

Forth can provide the next level of technical solutions for

accurate, reliable detection of aging caisson defects.

C.H.I.M.E.R.A (Comprehensive Highly Integrated Maintenance Engineer’s Robotic Assistant) Forth has developed the C.H.I.M.E.R.A solution for industries, including Oil & Gas, which require a solution to inspect pressure vessels without putting humans at risk. Pressure vessels are considered safety critical infrastructure and are present across many industries such as oil and gas, nuclear, petrochemical etc. Assuring the safety of these ageing assets is increasingly important for these industries as there have been many fatal failures in the past. Internal pressure vessel inspection has significant cost and health and safety risk associated with it and is required at specific intervals by industry codes/standards. In order to carry out internal inspection, the operator must; stop production, depressurise, store extracted fluid, vent etc. The total cost associated with these activities can easily exceed £1M within a few days depending on the production facility. More importantly, these tasks are currently carried out by humans and the hazardous environments have led to many injuries/fatalities. It is not possible for humans to carry out inspection on these assets without breaking containment, the only way to do so, is via robotics and artificial intelligence. CHIMERA is a semi-autonomous robotic platform for internal pressure vessel inspection, repair and maintenance. It will be deployed into the pressure vessel without breaking containment via an innovative bolt on headworks. It will be equipped with a sludge/sediment vacuum to clean the pressure vessel, an ultrasonic phased array inspection system and a slender arm for inspection and repair in confined spaces. To successfully deliver this, a consortium of experts has been formed with capabilities in robotics, inspection, navigation, in situ repair, AI, civil nuclear and oil and gas. There are close ties between the consortium and the targeted industries, providing a direct route to market/exploitation. CHIMERA represents a clear technological innovation for the UK pressure vessel inspection market with a major growth opportunity for the SME supply chain in the consortium.