Energy companies – many of which have been using artificial intelligence in some form for years – have long been talking up the opportunities offered to them by the current revolution in AI capabilities. Now they are at the stage where they can point to the tangible improvements it is making to their operations in terms of efficiency, safety and cost.
Executives at the major oil companies put AI implementation at the centre of the conversation when they met at the annual CERAWeek conference, held in Houston in March.
They were keen to show how GenAI-driven advances such as large-language models have opened up huge possibilities for the sector. For example, three-dimensional visualizations of subsea structures can now be generated much faster and more customisable form than engineers and scientists could manage without it.
BP, which recently said it would focus more of its resources on oil and gas production, provided a good illustration. The London-based supermajor says seismic data evaluation from its Gulf of Mexico operations that used to take six to 12 months can now be done in only eight to 12 weeks, thanks to the use of AI. That means a much shorter route to the start of drilling, at which point AI is also speeding up operations.
“We’re looking at how we can implement technology that interacts with the actual hardware, tools and rigs to make better decisions and better predictions, reducing non-productive time so we can drill more wells per year and have a better capital allocation,” Ann Davies, BP’s Global Senior Vice President of Wells, told the conference.
The company said its partnership with AI systems developer Palantir had brought together data scientists with BP’s engineers to manage and digitize work processes effectively.
“They have a platform that does this really well. One of our mottos is ‘data in the morning, insights by lunchtime.” Amber Russell, BP’s senior vice president of refining, said.
Those AI-driven insights are going well beyond simple data interpretation, providing a welter of useful context behind the headline information.
Higher-quality decisions
Chevron is another company keen to seize opportunities presented up by AI. Balaji Krishnamurthy, Vice President of the Chevron Technical Center told CERAWeek delegates that AI was also allowing his company to leverage vast amounts of data rapidly to make faster, higher-quality decisions that would drive improved business results.
AI tools were also enabling Chevron to reduce the carbon intensity of its operations, as well as helping its efforts to make its operations safer for workers. Another innovative use of the technology by Chevron is the use of drones using AI to monitor potential problems like emissions leaks when they fly over its US shale operations, cutting down on the time staff on the ground need to spend locating and fixing them.
“AI can be the technology breakthrough needed to deliver an affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy system,” Krishnamurthy said.
Devon Energy reported a 15% improvement in drilling efficiency, aided by machine learning models that monitored each of its oil rigs across the US. Devon’s Chief Technology Officer Trey Lowe told Reuters in an interview that AI had also helped the company drill in areas where it was unfeasible before and was providing a competitive advantage.
“Companies that don’t deploy it will get left behind at this point,” he said.
Company chiefs at CERAWeek pointed out that there was a long way to go before the full potential of AI is realised in the industry and that uptake is uneven around the world.
BP CEO Murray Auchincloss told a session that GenAI had embedded itself in the US oil and gas sector, where investment patterns were clear, but that there was some catching up to do around the rest of the globe. However, he said rectifying that situation would also present opportunities for AI-equipped companies such as BP.
(Photo: CERAWeek)
