AI, Robotics Leading Transformative Changes in Oil and Gas

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are leading transformative changes in the oil and gas sector.

That’s what GlobalData stated in a release sent to Rigzone by the GlobalData team, outlining that the technologies are “accelerating advancements in operational efficiency, safety, and environmental sustainability”.

“These technologies are reshaping how the sector approaches exploration, production, refining, and logistics, instituting a new era of innovations for heightened productivity, efficiency, sustainability, and safety,” GlobalData said in the release, which highlighted that the company had released a new report on AI and robotics in oil and gas.

The report features more than 50 “real-world innovations of AI and robotics in the sector”, the release pointed out, adding that it categorizes these by their impact on sector use cases, “demonstrating potential sector-wide transformation”. The report also explores emerging areas like generative AI and pipeline inspection robotics with practical industry examples, the release noted.

“AI and robotics are bringing far and wide changes in the oil and gas sector, fundamentally redefining what is possible,” Saurabh Daga, Project Manager for Disruptive Tech at GlobalData, said in the release.

“These technologies help us overcome challenges, from cost reduction to enhanced safety and sustainability, setting new benchmarks for efficiency and innovation,” Daga added.

“From autonomous operations, drilling optimization, plant inspections, to fleet optimization, they are transforming upstream, midstream, and downstream operations and pushing the envelope of efficiency and innovation,” Daga continued.

Daga warned in the release that the oil and gas sector’s future depends on AI and robotics across its entire value chain, “from upstream seismic analysis and real-time monitoring to predictive maintenance and autonomous refineries downstream”.

“Challenges like data integration, safety regulations, and skilled labor require collaborative solutions and strategic investments in R&D,” Daga said.

“Overcoming these hurdles will unlock the passage to AI and robotics-driven efficiency, sustainability, and innovation in the sector,” Daga added.

Highlighting some examples of AI, the release noted that SLB has partnered with Ineos Energy to integrate AI capabilities through SLB’s Delfi digital platform.

This collaboration targets enhanced operational performance across oil and gas operations, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and new acquisitions, GlobalData said, adding that it “signifies a pivotal move towards sustainable, low-carbon energy solutions, particularly in the North Sea region”.

In a statement posted on its site in September last year, SLB announced that it had signed a subsurface technology partnership with Ineos Energy.

“Ineos Energy will partner with SLB’s Performance Centre in Aberdeen, to collaborate and innovate subsurface technologies, including AI capabilities, to help it drive operational performance for continued growth, new acquisitions, and Carbon Capture and Storage,” SLB said in the statement.

“Under the agreement, INEOS Energy will integrate the SLB Delfi digital platform into its oil and gas operations, especially subsurface, wells, transport and monitoring,” it added.

“Delfi will seamlessly integrate into current assets and new acquisitions, a critical element of the company’s emissions-reducing CCS strategy for a sustainable low carbon future,” it continued.

GlobalData’s release also pointed out that Shell has initiated the implementation of generative AI technology for offshore oil drilling.

“The company has collaborated with Texas-based AI startup SparkCognition to enhance its deep-sea oil and gas exploration and drilling capabilities through a jointly developed proprietary generative AI approach,” GlobalData said in the release.

In May last year, SparkCognition announced a technology collaboration with Shell “to accelerate the pace of imaging and exploration of subsurface structures using generative AI technology”.

“By using advanced AI algorithms to process large amounts of data and automate the analysis, we aim to improve the efficiency and speed of exploration workflows, leading to potentially increased production and higher success rates,” the company said in a release.

In a release sent to Rigzone at the end of April, GlobalData noted that Saudi Aramco’s AI innovation dominance places the company ahead of the curve.

That release included an AI innovation leadership map for Aramco, and, according to that map, Aramco is a leader in a variety of themes, including oil exploration AI, drone controls AI, fault monitoring AI, and underwater robots.

The company is also an “explorer” of themes such as intelligent predictive maintenance, explainable AI, and ensemble learning, and a “challenger” of themes including welding robots, image smoothing, and defect detection models, the map shows.

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