An agreement between bp and AI systems developer Palantir Technologies to extend cooperation on the integration of large language models (LLMs) into digital twins and other technology used by the energy firm underlines the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the oil and gas industry.
The two companies have signed a five-year enterprise agreement that extends their existing relationship and which will allow the introduction of new AI capabilities using Palantir’s AIP software.
bp has been using Palantir software since 2014 across its oil and gas production operations, including offshore oil platforms in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and the Khazzan gas fields of Oman.
Among the key advances has been the development of a model-based digital twin of bp’s oil and gas production activity. This involves integrating real time data from over 2 million sensors with digital physical asset models to produce an overall picture of operations, which, the partners say, has led to performance improvements.
bp is using Palantir’s AIP software to use LLMs to improve and speed up decision-making by humans, providing suggested actions based on automated analysis of the underlying data.
“Going forward, our objectives together remain the same: further enhancing the efficiency of bp’s operations while increasing data integration. Now, AIP offers the opportunity to help accelerate human decision-making on top of the robust digital twin and deep operational workflows already in place,” Matthew Babin, Palantir’s Head of Energy and Natural Resources, said on announcing the new agreement.
Addressing AI concerns
That bp and Palantir are stressing that this will be done “safely and reliably” indicates the companies are mindful of concerns that over-reliance on the automated product of LLMs at the expense of more nuanced human-decision making risks introducing potentially costly errors into industrial systems.
They say the robustness of the digital twin and underpinning data infrastructure are reinforced by tools that ensure AI recommendations are transparent and that guard against so-called “hallucinations” – errors produced when an LLM produces inaccurate information built on faulty interpretation of data.
The software also incorporates security features that control what LLMs can and cannot do and makes fully auditable digital records of all decisions or actions taken, Palantir says.
Palantir has been building partnerships across the oil and gas industry over recent years, collaborating on digital twins and a range of other AI-related software products.
On September 25, it announced an extension to its enterprise agreement with Houston-based oil and gas firm APA Corporation, covering uses such as operational planning, supply chain management, maintenance planning, production optimization, and contract management.
For its part, bp has partnered with and invested in a number of AI firms over recent years as it seeks to gain a lead in the sector. It has also been looking beyond the energy industry to share insights garnered from using AI and other technology. In August, the London-based firm signed an agreement with NASA to collaborate on technology developed for its drilling operations in hard-to-reach locations, such as digital modelling, which could be used to prepare for and carry out future space missions to the Moon and Mars.
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