Researchers and engineers from the German project ISUP (Integrated Systems for Underwater Production of Hydrocarbons) plan to employ robots to tap into deep sea oil reserves. Remote-controlled robotic arms will be used to build the platform underwater. A pump will transport the oil through a pipeline on the ocean floor to a processing plant on land. The long-term goal is to make conventional offshore platforms obsolete, while making oil production safer and cheaper. The drilling would, however, continue to be conducted from a floating oil platform - similar to the ones used in the Gulf of Mexico.
