Few energy company executives would dispute that deploying artificial intelligence is going to help the bottom line in the long run, but quantifying the benefits is a complex proposition. The UAE’s state energy firm ADNOC has risen to the challenge and crunched the numbers, estimating that that it generated $500m in value by deploying AI solutions in 2023.
The UAE’s state oil company said that gain came from the integration of over 30 AI tools across ADNOC’s value chain, from field operations to corporate decision making.
The benefits were not just monetary, according to the company, which said those applications also abated “up to 1m tonnes of CO2 emissions” between 2022 and 2023, roughly the equivalent of removing 200,000 petrol-powered cars from the road.
The company said it was embarking on a multi-year program to accelerate the deployment of AI solutions. Sultan Al-Jaber, ADNOC’s CEO and the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, told a recent meeting of the company’s employees to discuss the plans that integrating AI further into operations would future-proof its business and drive greater and more sustainable value from its assets.
“Artificial intelligence is one of the most important economic and social game changers of our era and it can play a crucial role in accelerating a just, orderly and equitable energy transition,” he said.
Upstream benefits
In upstream, ADNOC uses AI applications in mapping subsurface resources, optimizing drilling, production activity and smarter reservoir management. These enables the company to rapidly and efficiently grow its production capacity and ensure the continued delivery of lower-carbon intensity energy, it said.
ADNOC said its Centralized Predictive Analytics and Diagnostics (CPAD) program harnesses AI to remotely monitor critical operational equipment across both upstream and downstream facilities. CPAD has sharply reduced the frequency of unplanned shutdowns and streamlined routine maintenance activity, while also improving operational efficiency, the company said.
The firm also highlighted tools supporting its ambition to hit net zero by 2045 and its target of achieving near-zero methane emissions by 2030. Tools such as Emission X gather historic and real-time data from hundreds of sources on operational sites to accurately predict emission sources up to five years in advance, allowing operators to take preventative action, according to ADNOC.
Emission X was developed by AIQ, a joint venture between ADNOC and Abu Dhabi-based G42 intended to use AI to create more sustainable energy sector. Other AIQ products in operation at ADNOC’s facilities include SMARTi, an intelligent computer vision system that uses AI to detect safety hazards across industrial and operational environments. Other tools include AR360, which uses AI to visualize reservoirs and optimize development, and Robowell, which uses AI to remotely operate equipment in upstream facilities, reducing cost, improving safety and making the more productive.
(Photo: ADNOC's HQ in Abu Dhabi/Shutterstock)
