The energy industry is accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), and there is an opportunity for the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region to lead the way in this new global agenda.

AI has the potential to increase productivity, performance, and safety while reducing emissions. SLB is growing AI in MENA through the company’s innovative services and technologies, rapid experimentation, and AI-trained workforce.

Dany Rahal, SLB Vice President of Digital for MENA, explains AI’s current and potential impact in the region.

Q: The world is faced with the challenge of balancing energy security and sustainability. How is SLB contributing to a lower-carbon future?

A: SLB is acting now, driving energy innovation to decarbonize the industry for a balanced planet.

The trilemma of energy security, affordability, and sustainability has increased focus on decarbonizing oil and gas operations, while affirming that oil and gas must remain a key source of energy throughout this decade and beyond. We are paving a path to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by applying our expertise to create transition technologies to help our customers produce the lowest-carbon barrel.

Through these transition technologies, we avoided 700,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2022, equivalent to taking more than 150,000 cars off the road. From 2021 to 2022, SLB reduced our Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity by 16%. We were the first company in the sector to include Scope 3 in its net zero commitment.

Moreover, we have set a long-term goal to develop new energy systems that can reduce hundreds of megatons of emissions and enable clean energy generation.

Q: How does SLB Digital support customers in MENA with AI?

A: SLB is helping our customers scale digital. Today, more than 300 customers utilize SLB’s data and AI applications for data-driven decision making and emissions control.

In Saudi Arabia and Iraq, SLB integrated operations leverage the power of AI through our DrillPlan™ coherent well planning and engineering solutions to automate and improve the design of new wells.

The well plan is passed seamlessly to DrillOps™ intelligent well delivery and insights solutions, to automate drilling activities and monitor real-time workflows with predictive analytics.

The results had an impact of 10% to 15% on efficiency in drilling and improved productivity and risk avoidance by automating manual repetitive tasks typically run by engineers and operations teams, according to the integrated well construction deep-gas project case study.

Q: Can AI be used to unlock potential reserves in the region?

A: Yes, in a giant field in Iraq, the FDPlan™ agile field development planning solution proved instrumental in crafting a comprehensive field development plan for 13 reservoirs.

Harnessing the power of cloud computing and innovative AI capabilities, we were able to accelerate the process of well placement optimization and the generation of field development concepts, unlocking substantial additional reserves in the field.

In Libya, Sirte Oil Company (SOC) began digitizing operations using the Agora™ edge AI and IoT solutions to increase production and electric submersible pump (ESP) reliability. Using secure satellite connectivity and solar power in the remote Al-Khair Field, SOC is improving production and monitoring multiple wells.
Using the ESP performance application in concert with Al-driven video analytics deployed by Agora edge, we were able to improve production and enhance site security and reduce required wellsite visits by more than 90%.

Q: Can you give some examples of how SLB is advancing AI technologies?

A: SLB is decreasing the time and cost needed to build AI projects and helping upskill people with no-code and low code capabilities through a partnership with Dataiku, an artificial intelligence and machine learning company.

The partnership enables the exploration and production industry to build and deploy AI solutions across the full spectrum of upstream workflows within the Delfi™ digital platform. By delivering unprecedented capabilities to petrotechnical domain experts in response to global demand for AI, it will bridge the gap between machine learning and domain expertise to enable better insights.

In addition, SLB is collaborating with Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals and the Oman Investment Authority in building a national strategy to develop the potential of Oman’s geothermal resources.

It is projected that by 2050, two‐thirds of the world’s energy supply will come from wind, solar, bioenergy, hydroenergy, and geothermal, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Of these, geothermal energy is the only resource virtually unaffected by available land, weather, and seasons.

The SLB GeothermEx™ multidisciplinary geothermal consulting team used a proprietary AI solution to expedite assessment, sorting, and evaluation of the huge volume of data from the Oman Oil and Gas Data Repository coming from over 7,000 oil, gas, and water wells and delivered a comprehensive assessment of Oman’s geothermal potential.

Q: Tell us about the INNOVATION FACTORI and what cutting-edge digital technology solutions have been developed there.

A: We are focused on developing new energy systems that closely align with our surface and subsurface expertise, present the opportunity to scale technology, and benefit from our global reach.

At our INNOVATION FACTORI Abu Dhabi, we collaborate with our customers to help them solve challenges using AI markup language and deploy the solution at scale.

For example, SLB collaborated with the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) on their digital enabler program called Kuwait Integrated Digital Fields. This is driving performance in the North Kuwait Jurassic (NKJ) gas asset.

By focusing on AI-centric automation of operational business processes, KOC has achieved a substantial boost in engineers’ operational efficiency and productivity that is directly supporting a major increase in gas production over the past year.

The adoption by NKJ of an enterprise AI and end-to-end automation platform helped streamline manual processes and reduce nonproductive time, which in turn resulted in better and faster decision making.

Q: Are there any other ways SLB is accelerating AI adoption in MENA?

A: We are steadfast in our commitment to accelerating AI adoption in the Middle East region, building upon the innovative solutions developed at our INNOVATION FACTORI and our award-winning talent development initiatives.

In collaboration with our regional partners, we are actively deploying AI technologies tailored to the specific needs of MENA oil and gas operations. This strategic collaboration, in conjunction with our recent Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference Award, earned jointly with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for pioneering talent development, serves as a testament to our resolute dedication to fostering knowledge transfer and skill enhancement within the region.

Additionally, SLB is working closely with universities and industry organizations to develop AI expertise within the MENA region, including hackathons and digital collaboration centers for aspiring data scientists and problem solvers.

These initiatives further solidify our role in driving AI adoption and enabling a more efficient, sustainable, and technologically advanced energy sector in the region.