The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced that it generated $500 million in value by deploying artificial intelligence (AI) in 2023. The value was generated from the integration of more than 30 AI tools across ADNOC’s value chain, the company said. Additionally, the company said, these applications abated up to 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions between 2022 and 2023, the equivalent of removing around 200,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road.
The milestone marks the start of the company’s multiyear program to accelerate the deployment of AI to enhance safety, while driving down emissions and driving up value.
“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,” said Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology and the managing director and group CEO of ADNOC. “At ADNOC, we have integrated artificial intelligence across our operations, from the control room to the boardroom, and it is enabling us to make smarter decisions and better protect our people and the environment. As we grow our diversified portfolio to ensure secure, reliable, and responsible supply of energy, we are further integrating AI to future-proof our business and drive greater and more sustainable value from our assets and resources.”
In ADNOC’s upstream operations, AI applications play a central role in mapping subsurface resources, optimizing drilling and production activity, and creating smarter reservoir management. Across upstream and downstream facilities, ADNOC’s Centralized Predictive Analytics and Diagnostics (CPAD) program uses AI to remotely monitor critical operational equipment. ADNOC says that CPAD has drastically reduced the frequency of unplanned shutdowns and streamlined routine maintenance activity, while improving operational efficiency.
AI is also supporting ADNOC’s net zero by 2045 ambition and its target to achieve 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 predict emission sources up to 5 years in advance, allowing operators to take preventative action. Emission X was developed by AIQ, a joint venture between ADNOC and G42 established in 2020 to drive an AI-powered transformation of the 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. AR360 uses AI to visualize reservoirs and optimize development, reducing planning time, and increasing well life and ultimate recovery rates. Robowell uses AI to remotely operate equipment such as flow valves in upstream facilities, reducing cost, enhancing safety and increasing production capacity.