Today’s oilpatch is increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to pinpoint the best spot to drill, to safely and remotely operate equipment, and to predict when a piece of equipment might fail.
“AI, Automation, and Boots on the Ground” was the topic of a panel discussion at the recent Hart Energy Executive Oil Conference, with representatives from Halliburton, AlphaX Decision Software, and Vital Energy discussing AI, automation, and their use of the technology.
Sammy Haroon, founder and CEO of AlphaX, offered several case studies at the conference, including one in which the company’s Sky AI-based software was used to perform a new basin evaluation valued around $50 million. He told the Reporter-Telegram the software is used in the office by multidisciplinary teams—engineer, operations, planning—to get proved developed producing and inventory forecasts to accelerate a variety of internal work flows. In the case study he cited, the engineering team, with no prior experience in the San Juan Basin, ran three different models on the target assets to develop forecasts and build type curves and did a full basin evaluation of all the wells in the basin to compare the target assets to others. Both were accomplished in less than 6 hours.
“The application of Sky’s prebuilt basin models in this case study showcases how AI-based basin evaluation can assist with rapid asset forecasting. This method offers a faster and more accurate assessment of potential assets, crucial for strategic decision-making in a highly competitive and resource-intensive industry,” Haroon wrote.