Inspection Drone in Oil Gas Market

Inspection Drone in Oil & Gas Market Size

The global inspection drone in oil & gas market was valued at USD 1 billion in 2024 and is estimated to register a CAGR of 10.8% between 2025 and 2034.

The expansion of monitoring with inspections, as well as advancements in drone technologies, could foster the market. Companies are making efforts to develop their technologies by conducting drone inspections for scheduled maintenance of equipment, monitoring facilities, and reducing risks. For instance, in May 2023, Performance Rotors, which is located in Singapore and specializes in drone inspection solutions, was acquired by XTEND. The acquisition was intended to improve XTEND's human-operated, remote interactive inspection operations capabilities and suits the company’s expansion plans.

Despite AI and machine learning being integrated into drone missions and immensely influencing the approach in which drones are inspected, this is also a pivotal development that will enable drones to process the information concurrently with collection and subsequently solve issues much faster, leading to safe oil and gas operations. Inspections done by drones are likely to increase too, as countries forcefully enact laws that govern and protect human and environmental safety, revealing further steps towards increased automation and optimization within the industry.

The combination and integration of smart analytics have proven to completely revolutionize the oil and gas inspection drone market, providing an exponentially higher level in terms of efficiency and decision-making. With organizations becoming more data-focused, the combination of drone analytics is set to rise, resulting in revolutionized practices and better asset management in the oil and gas sector. At the same time, the market for drone analytics overall seems optimistic, with expectations of reaching an estimated 10 to 23 billion USD in revenue by 2032, with an annual growth rate of 24%.

Inspection Drone in Oil & Gas Market Trends

Inspection drones are becoming increasingly adopted in the oil and gas industry as they help enhance the safety of operators, lower costs, and minimize lag in operations. This new generation of aerial systems allows operators to do remote inspections of sites, meaning they don’t have to place themselves at risk of performing complex maneuvers in dangerous settings. For these drones to go about their work, they are fitted with advanced sensors and high-definition cameras, which allow for the improved inspection of sites, enabling them to gather better information. This leads to the quicker identification of problems in the inspected sites, meaning that mending and repairing can be done quicker, reducing the overall maintenance cost.

A key trend in the market is the emergence of autonomous unmanned drones that combine more advanced integrated sensors and imaging equipment with activities like offshore drilling, inspections of pipelines and their refineries, and so forth. A case in point is the UAM and drone firm in Japan, Terra Drone Corporation, which confirmed in July 2024 that they will collaborate with MODEC towards the enhancement of drone technology for the inspection of offshore engineering as a component of their floating production storage offloading drone systems.

The market has some factors hampering its growth. Integration costs are very high and linked to the importing of most of the drone technology. Also, companies face data integrity and synthesis issues in data drones as they have to integrate and analyze billions of weak signals. In addition, the operational expenses of new drone systems may deter many companies with lower budgets. The shortage of qualified professionals, which is necessary for the operation of these drones, must be addressed by allocating funds for the appropriate training of personnel, thus slowing down the rate of growth of the market.

Inspection Drone in Oil & Gas Market Analysis

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Based on drone, the market is divided into fixed-wing drone, rotary-wing drone, and hybrid drone. In 2024, the rotary-wing drone segment was valued at over USD 470 million.

• The expanding market is primarily due to the increasing use of rotary-wing drones in upstream activities, including pipeline inspections, offshore platform monitoring, and flare stack inspections. Moreover, their ability to hover and maneuver allows for easier use in examining unmoving structures.
  
• With the trend of companies focusing on investing in AI-powered tools for effective decision-making, the appeal for rotary drones is expected to increase too. Such a trend is not an isolated observation but rather reflects the industry’s growing tendency to adopt new technologies that improve safety and productivity in the oil and gas industry by leveraging real-time analytics.
  

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Based on operation, the inspection drone in oil & gas market is categorized into upstream, midstream, and downstream. The upstream segment is anticipated to register a CAGR of over 9% from 2025 to 2034.

• This segment is growing due to the high demand for effective supervision of drilling rigs, exploration sites, and pipelines located in remote areas.
  
• Upstream operations are scaling up the utilization of inspection drones with the increased funding in new exploratory undertakings and increasing focus on sustainability. These drones not only make inspection safer but also reduce the time and cost of inspections, which makes them crucial for the upstream oil & gas companies.
  

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North America dominated the global inspection drone in oil & gas market with a major share of over 30% in 2024.

• Due to current factors in the US market, there is an increased focus on productivity and safety in the oil and gas sector. Regulations that are put in place to ensure the safety of these infrastructures and mitigate any environmental impact are contributing to the growth in the drones’ use for inspection.
  
• Corporations are now investing in drones in order to improve inspection processes, which would reduce machine downtime as issues would be fixed immediately. Furthermore, the increasing tendency to embed AI and machine learning features into the drones improves the efficiency of operations through real-time analysis of data.
  
• Saudi Arabia and UAE are among the countries boasting enhanced oil and gas business, which in return has expanded the Middle East inspection drone market. The amplified maintenance of old structures and the frequent inspections that are required are some of the factors pushing for the advance in drone technology.
  
• The vast number of operations the drones can undertake, like pipeline inspections, flare stack monitoring, and property/establishment inspections, will all expand a company’s risk coverage and efficiency.
  
• Emerging investments in infrastructure and developing monitoring requirements for Asia Pacific are anticipated to propel the region to a growth market. Australia and Japan are already active enthusiasts in the drone technology sector, as it enables ease in performing inspections while ensuring compliance with environmental legislation.
  
• The region is also seeing an increase in joint efforts between local firms and international firms with regards to improving the capabilities of inspection drones available in the market. The operational safety and efficiency are expected to create a high demand for drones in this region.
  

Inspection Drone in Oil & Gas Market Share

DJI Enterprise, Terra Drone, and IdeaForge collectively hold a significant market share of over 12% in inspection drone in oil & gas industry.

• DJI focuses on collaborating with energy companies and providing customized drone technology for pipeline inspection, flare stack monitoring, and achieving environmental regulatory requirements. Their thermal imager, drone ruggedization, and AI drones are essential elements that shape DJI Enterprise’s strategy in the oil and gas industry.
  
• Terra Drone implements drone inspection, data analytics, and other remotely operated vehicles to offer made-to-measure oil and gas forward-looking solutions. Remote inspections are conducted using high technology such as LiDAR and 3D models with the aim of realizing cost minimization through improvements in safety, reduction of operational downtime, as well as enhanced decision-making with regards to data in tough coordinates.
  
• IdeaForge seeks to construct autonomous drones that withstand harsh oil and gas inspection conditions and provide a wide range of services on drones. Their development strategy is focused on creating a wider list of drones capable of gas leak detection, gas concentration measurement, and monitoring the state of the buildings and equipment used in Transmission and Dispatching departments.
  

Inspection Drone in Oil & Gas Market Companies

Major players operating in the inspection drone in oil & gas industry include:

• Cyberhawk
• DJI Enterprise
• FLIR Systems
• IdeaForge
• Percepto
• PrecisionHawk
• senseFly
• Sky-Futures (ICR Group)
• Terra Drone
• Vantage Robotics
  

The need for sophisticated inspection drones in the oil and gas industry has perhaps increased with the growing intricacies within the sector, as well as the shift to a greater emphasis on efficiency and sustainability. As a consequence of this trend, local companies have started pursuing technological adoption through the formation of new partnerships, as well as investing in R&D to improve their drones for remote monitoring, asset integrity, and analytics purposes. The expected increase in M&As is likely to further consolidation in light of the rapid growth within the drones-as-a-service market in this regard.

As drones become increasingly popular in the oil and gas industry, the competitive landscape will change, as both global enterprises and local players will seek to strengthen their capabilities to provide this cutting-edge technology. Such innovations will enhance safety, efficiency, and effectiveness in this industry. Moreover, big global companies have been buying up small companies to consolidate advanced technologies such as AI, thermal imaging, LiDAR, and remote sensing into their processes for enhanced safety, data collection, and analysis.

Inspection Drone in Oil & Gas Industry News

• In November 2024, ZenaTech revealed it would be buying multiple firms to help kick off its Drones as a Service functionalities. They are intending to supply AI powered drones while also delivering SaaS solutions.These acquisitions, it is seen, are likely to increase the revenue of the company and also aid the DaaS business by employing ZenaDrone’s sophisticated drone technology into the activities of the companies bought out.
  
• In September 2024, RES, a company involved in the global renewable energy and services market, purchased Sulzer Schmid (Sulzer & Schmid Laboratories AG). This acquisition was conducted in an effort to enhance RES’s response capabilities and digital service offerings, which directly relate to the growing demand of renewable energy asset managers for more proactive and intelligent solutions in relation to operations and maintenance (O&M) activities.
  

The inspection drone in oil & gas market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of revenue ($Bn) and shipment (Units) from 2021 to 2034, for the following segments:

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Market, By Drone

• Fixed-wing drone
• Rotary-wing drone
• Hybrid drone

Market, By Payload

• Cameras
• LiDAR
• Gas detectors
• Others

Market, By Operation

• Upstream
• Midstream
• Downstream

Market, By Application

• Pipeline inspection
• Flare stack inspection
• Tank inspection
• Environmental monitoring
• Well site inspection
• Others

Market, By End Use

• National oil companies (NOCs)
• Independent oil companies (IOCs)

The above information is provided for the following regions and countries:

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • UK
  • Germany
  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Russia
  • Nordics
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • India
  • Japan
  • Australia
  • South Korea
  • Southeast Asia 
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Argentina
• MEA
  • UAE
  • South Africa
  • Saudi Arabia