The oil and gas (O&G) industry has traditionally prioritized caution and established practices over rapid innovation. But as the landscape evolves, a key question arises: Is there a place for artificial intelligence in oil and gas?

Many industry leaders are already turning to AI to tackle long-standing organizational challenges — and the appeal is clear. From early exploration through to final distribution, AI has the potential to optimize operations, reduce costs, and enhance safety across the board.

So, how exactly is AI accelerating growth for O&G companies?

AI in the Oil and Gas Industry: How It Helps

Different types of AI are making it easier to use data in the oil and gas industry:

• Machine Learning (ML): This analyzes data to find patterns and predict outcomes, helping to improve tasks like reservoir exploration, drilling, and fault detection.
• Deep Learning: A more advanced version of ML, deep learning uses complex networks to analyze data more deeply, like performing detailed seismic analysis to uncover hidden insights.
• Generative AI: This AI learns from existing data and can create new data samples, emergency instructions, or summaries.
• Natural Language Processing (NLP) & Computer Vision: These technologies help interpret human language and visual data, which is useful for tasks like generating reports and checking quality.
• Edge AI: This AI processes data directly on devices, without needing internet or cloud storage. It’s useful for adjusting machinery, tracking sensors, collecting seismic data, and monitoring safety remotely.

How AI Transforms the Oil and Gas Industry at Every Stage

AI is changing every part of the oil and gas supply chain, helping companies improve efficiency and move closer to sustainability and net-zero goals.

Predicting the Location, Quality, and Size of Reservoirs

Reservoir engineers sift through lots of seismic and electromagnetic data to find new oil and gas deposits. Traditional exploration is costly, risky, and prone to errors since it depends heavily on human fieldwork. Drilling dry wells is expensive and wastes resources — the investment in geological assessments, drilling, and testing is lost if the well doesn’t produce.

AI helps reduce these costly mistakes in exploration. Here’s how:

• Better Seismic Image Interpretation: AI can enhance poor-quality seismic images, removing noise, improving resolution, and detecting subtle features that would otherwise be missed.
• Improved Reservoir Understanding: Generative AI analyzes geological maps, production data, and well logs to create models of reservoirs. These models help engineers predict fluid movement and the well’s performance over time.
• Smarter Well Placement: IoT devices and edge computing process real-time sensor data locally, such as pressure, temperature, and flow rates, without relying on external systems. This reduces the time to create geological models for well placement from months to hours, according to Deloitte.

Increasing Extraction Rates with Automated Drilling

With high costs, oil and gas companies aim to get drilling right the first time. AI-driven drilling optimization helps achieve this goal.

Predictive intelligence helps engineers turn historical and real-time data into actionable insights for better drilling preparation. Using advanced machine learning, geosteering teams analyze large amounts of past data to set the best parameters, like weight on bit, drilling speed, and angle. AI-powered neural networks also predict issues like stuck pipe events, allowing teams to take action early.

The result? AI reduces the risk of drill-bit failures and boosts extraction rates.

Early Detection and Prevention of Equipment Failures

Oil and gas companies spend a lot of time managing equipment and scheduling maintenance.

Manual monitoring can be slow, prone to errors, and doesn’t fully utilize historical data. AI-powered fault detection solves this by spotting patterns, predicting failures, and improving operations.

Drones and robots with tiny sensors and cameras inspect equipment with precision. AI models can detect cracks, corrosion, and other signs of wear. This allows for 24/7 inspections without human intervention, lowering risks and reducing costs.

Providing Field Workers with AI Assistants

Exploration often involves high pressures, extreme heat, flammable substances, and other hazards, leading to numerous tragic safety incidents. Virtual field assistants now provide drilling crews, well operators, and technicians with fast and easy access to vital information. These conversational AI assistants can be seamlessly integrated into field-friendly devices, ensuring 24/7 availability and proving more efficient in emergencies than human-run call centers.