Artificial Intelligence in Oil and Gas Market

Global Statistics Representing Artificial Intelligence in Oil and Gas Market Scenario

Oil and gas are valued commodities in the energy sector. Artificial Intelligence (AI), in the oil and gas industry, eases maintenance processes, introduces cost-effectiveness, and finds numerous applications. Intelligent robots are eliminating the workforce with efficient work in both offshore as well as onshore sites, with multiple AI software being used in upstream, midstream, and downstream applications of the oil and gas industry.

The main advantages of Artificial Intelligence in the oil and gas industry are operational efficiency improvements, savings increments, predictive intelligence provisions, and greater safety measures and tactics.

Product Lifecycle

Artificial Intelligence is new to all industries, however, with a slow start in the oil and gas industry, it has recently been adopted by the industry owing to its numerous benefits. It helps companies in keeping costs lower whilst boosting efficiency. AI is flaunted as the answer to many problems that older approaches constituted. For instance, fully automated or autonomous drilling rigs are being used by the offshore oil industry.

Drivers and Potential Opportunities

• Operational Efficiency

Oil and gas industries include various operations such as distillation, evaporation, and reactions, among others. In these operations, a significant number of technicians are required, which Artificial Intelligence does away with, thereby saving costs. Artificial Intelligence lowers the chances of errors in the operations in the oil and gas industry.

• Reduces Worker Risk

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence by the oil and gas industry helps in various ways such as operational efficiency, cost savings, and others. Among these, the key factor is safety during operations as the oil and gas industry is a hazardous industry, with frequently occurring toxic chemical reactions, and the perpetual risk of bursting of equipment or gas/ oil leaks.

• IoT Bolsters AI Integration

In the Upstream segment, IoT has greatly enhanced in terms of scenario planning, demand forecasting, inventory optimizing, logistics optimizing, and swift responding to opportunities in the dynamic market. IoT devices have assisted in analyzing and interpreting real-time risks and significantly reduced major mishaps.

In terms of midstream, IoT applications in the oil and gas industry have evolved for shipping, such as optimization of transportation plans and proper utilization to maximize results. IoT has various applications in the midstream oil and gas industry, namely, tank farm monitoring, field crew monitoring, pipeline monitoring, terminal access control, asset tracking, flow meter connectivity, wellhead monitoring, and cargo shipping monitoring, among others.

Even in downstream, IoT has been effective when it comes to minimizing downtime and improving safety records. The use of IoT in the oil and gas industry goes hand-in-hand with Artificial Intelligence and has played a key role in spurring the demand for AI in the industry. It has successfully enabled the use of data storage, design applications, and security protocols set up with the help of advanced data science methodologies.

Exploration in the Arctic

Exploration for the oil and gas in the arctic has been approved by the Trump Administration in October 2018, which has created a great opportunity for oil and gas manufacturers. This, in turn, leads to an increase in demand for Artificial Intelligence in the oil and gas market as oil and gas explorers are incorporating AI in exploring oil and gas by using fully automated rigs or drills, such as the Canrig of Nabors Industries Ltd. According to the Bureau of Land Management, Arctic could hold a majority of the world’s remaining untapped oil and gas reserves, which provides a lucrative opportunity for market players.

Oil and Gas Market Value Chain

There are basically three steps in the oil and gas market value chain, in which the first step is upstream of oil and gas, which comprises exploration, field development, and production operations. The second step is midstream, which comprises transportation, processing, storage, and distribution, and the third step is downstream, which comprises the manufacturing of oil and gas, refining of petrochemicals, wholesale, and marketing.

Artificial Intelligence in Oil and Gas: Regional Insights

Artificial Intelligence is gradually being adopted by different industries owing to its numerous benefits. The demand for Artificial Intelligence in the oil and gas sector is increasing tremendously in different regions such as North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

In the Middle East and nearby regions, the upstream of oil and gas usually takes place where the drilling and exploration of oil are done through rigs. Nowadays, fully automated rigs are used to explore and drill oil from the fields using Artificial Intelligence. For instance, Nabors Industries Ltd. is offering its robotic offshore and onshore drilling rig ‘Canrig.’

North America is also a key region in terms of upstream, with a significant increase in the use of AI in North America’s oil and gas market. For instance, ExxonMobil, a prominent oil and gas player in the U.S., has collaborated with IBM for AI solutions.

Asia-Pacific, comprising midstream and downstream oil and gas industries, owing to the lack of oil fields, is projected to note a considerable increase in demand for Artificial Intelligence.

Recent Developments

In June 2019, Eni, a major Italian oil and gas company, and IBM launched a new Artificial Intelligence-based research platform. The platform is a Cognitive Discovery research platform following a multiyear collaboration on the use of AI. According to Eni, this platform will help in the upstream application during the exploration phase and reduce exploration risk and geological complexity. It works like an augmented intelligence assistant that provides a more precise and realistic representation of the subsoil while exploring huge amounts of geochemical, physical, and geological data.

Artificial Intelligence in Oil and Gas Market: Key Players

Various regional, national, and international players are providing AI in the oil and gas industry. Some of the prominent service providers of Artificial Intelligence in the oil and gas industry are listed below.

• IBM (U.S.)
• Intel Corporation (U.S.)
• Microsoft Corporation (U.S.)
• Accenture (Ireland)
• Google LLC (U.S.)
• Oracle (U.S.)
• Numenta (U.S.)
• Sentient Technologies (U.S.)
• Inbenta Technologies Inc. (U.S.)
• General Vision (U.S.)
• Cisco (U.S.)

Other players engaged in the Artificial Intelligence in the oil and gas market are Infosys (India), Hortonworks (U.S.), and Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands). A significant number of players operating in the Artificial Intelligence in the oil and gas market are from North America, mainly from the United States, due to the increasing research and development on high-tech Artificial Intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence in Oil and Gas Market Segmentation

By Type

• Hardware
• Software
• Services

By Function

• Predictive Maintenance
• Field Service
• Material Movement
• Production Planning
• Quality Control

By Application

• Upstream
• Midstream
• Downstream

By Region

North America

• U.S.
• Canada

Europe

• Germany
• France
• U.K.
• Italy
• Spain
• Russia
• Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

• Japan
• China
• India
• South Korea
• ASEAN
• Rest of Asia-Pacific

Latin America

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Columbia
• Rest of Latin America

Middle East

• Saudi Arabia
• UAE
• Oman
• Qatar
• Bahrain
• Rest of ME

Africa

• Nigeria
• Tanzania
• Ghana
• Rest of Africa