Autonomous car trialled at BP refinery

This autonomous car is patrolling a BP oil refinery

Courtesy: BP

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MORAG WATSON, BP DIGITAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING SAYING:

"This trial that we're actually running right now is the first fully autonomous driving test to be carried out in BP and the first refinery environment trial for Oxbotica, so a couple of firsts in there."

A driverless car developed by the Oxford-based startup Oxbotica

has undergone trials around an operational BP oil refinery in Germany

BP says autonomous cars could improve safety at the site

Location: BP’s Lingen refinery, Germany

The vehicle proved it could navigate

busy junctions and tricky terrain

while looking for

//any irregularities

faulty equipment

and security threats//

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MORAG WATSON, BP DIGITAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING SAYING:

"So autonomy is really important to BP. We have digital at the heart of our strategy but digital capability only really comes to life when you can see it in a physical manifestation."