Oil & Gas Sector Embraces AI for Faster, Smarter Drilling

Image Credit: Reuters

At the CERAWeek conference in Houston, executives discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating oil and gas drilling, prompting companies to reconsider previously difficult or expensive areas for development. AI took a central role at the event, as oil producers seek to remain profitable amid falling oil prices and concerns over the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on global energy demand.

BP has been utilizing AI to guide drill bits and predict potential well issues in advance, which has allowed the company to increase the number of wells drilled per year and better allocate capital, according to Ann Davies, BP's senior vice president of wells. BP's recent shift in strategy involves boosting annual spending on oil and gas production to improve investor confidence.

AI has also enabled U.S. oil producer Devon Energy to drill in previously unfeasible areas. Using AI, the company can gather data on faults in formations and drill on the opposite side to avoid them, said CTO Trey Lowe. Additionally, Chevron is deploying AI-powered drones to monitor its shale operations in Texas and Colorado. The drones help detect issues like emissions leaks and have reduced downtime for repairs and maintenance, improving overall production.

Devon Energy's AI-driven machine learning models have improved the productive life of oil and gas wells by 25%. AI is also accelerating offshore drilling, with BP now able to process seismic data in the Gulf of Mexico in just 8 to 12 weeks, a task that previously took 6 to 12 months. This allows geoscientists to pinpoint drilling locations and anticipate potential issues more quickly.

While AI has been used in the industry for years, recent advancements like large-language models are transforming the sector, according to Chicheng Xu, founder of OpenPetro AI. AI enables faster and more accurate 3D visualizations of features deep beneath the ocean floor, offering significant time and cost savings.

The use of AI in the oil and gas sector is creating a competitive advantage, with Lowe warning that companies not adopting AI risk falling behind.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author