By Duco de Haan, CEO and Michael Fry, Director of Technology Innovation
In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries across the globe, the drilling sector stands at a pivotal moment. Despite its reputation for technological innovation in equipment and processes, the industry has been cautious in fully embracing AI-enabled solutions. However, economic pressures, safety concerns, and environmental regulations are creating a perfect storm that may accelerate adoption.
The high risk and global nature of the drilling industry places it in the ideal position to lead the advancement of AI-enabled technologies. Yet, compared with other sectors like healthcare, finance, and manufacturing, the drilling industry has been relatively slow to embrace its full potential.
The untapped potential of AI in drilling operations
While real-time monitoring for blowout preventers, predictive maintenance, and drilling simulations have seen some success, we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible.
These early successes are compelling: AI-enabled systems now provide comprehensive digital fingerprinting of components, real-time condition monitoring, and detailed anomaly documentation, significantly reducing non-productive time while enhancing safety. Additionally, regulatory bodies like the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) are increasingly mandating real-time monitoring in regions such as the Gulf of Mexico, accelerating adoption.
AI and machine learning are transforming how we, and our clients, function. The opportunities are immense, and as a drilling industry, we are ideally positioned to deploy new technology because the gains are huge.
Pioneering companies leading the way
Some forward-thinking organisations are already demonstrating the transformative potential of AI:
- ADNOC Drilling made headlines with its $733 million investment in three advanced AI-enabled island drilling rigs for the offshore Zakum Field. These rigs, being built by Honghua Group in partnership with ADNOC Drilling, are designed for Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) and capable of drilling wells over 52,000 feet in length. With expected delivery and operation in 2026, this deal will expand ADNOC Drilling's fleet to at least 148 rigs by 2026.
- Equinor has implemented an AI-driven digital twin platform that creates virtual replicas of physical drilling operations, enabling real-time optimisation.
- Shell has deployed machine learning algorithms that analyse historical drilling data to predict and prevent equipment failures, resulting in a significant reduction in unplanned downtime.
- ModuSpec has developed AI solutions focused on real-time blow-out preventer monitoring and optimised predictive maintenance scheduling, addressing critical safety and efficiency challenges.
Breaking down implementation barriers
Despite the benefits demonstrated, widespread adoption faces several significant challenges:
- Data sovereignty and integration concerns: The highly sensitive nature of proprietary drilling data remains a key stumbling block, with a demand for tailored solutions that can work with siloed data systems without compromising data security or intellectual property.
- Investment horizons and ROI clarity: With volatile energy prices and pressure to maximise shareholder returns, drilling companies often struggle to justify the high upfront costs of AI implementation.
- Workforce readiness and change management: The drilling industry faces both an ageing workforce and competition for digital talent with other sectors.
Leveraging generative AI for historical integration and real-time decisions
To predict the future, we must first learn from the past. This is where generative AI revolutionises real-time monitoring by integrating historical data and lessons learned into real-time decision-making processes.
Generative AI is one of the most important tools a company can utilise. At ModuSpec when we start to develop new solutions, one of the first questions we ask is 'What do we want to know?' and this is where Generative AI comes in.
Generative AI is allowing companies to delve into vast amounts of historical lessons learned, inspection reports, maintenance history, and operations logs. This integration empowers real-time decisions that significantly enhance operational efficiency and safety.
Our industry has so much data and historical knowledge sitting on hard drives and servers across networks. By accessing this information, not only can we fill the knowledge gap in our workforce, but we can also accelerate our decision-making abilities.
Our equipment only fails in so many ways; we have seen all of them. If we accessed historical failure data, procedural errors, and lessons learned, just think about the training we could offer the next generation of offshore workers!
Conclusion: A call to action
At a time when the sector is facing a combination of complex economic, regulatory, environmental, and reputational challenges, not to mention competing with other more attractive industries for skills, these technologies can help provide solutions.
Our industry has a long history of innovation and of taking risks to achieve advances in safety and protecting the environment. We need to create a sense of excitement around how technology can be used to make a positive difference and the speed of advancements.
With the speed of AI-infused technology development only likely to accelerate, the drilling industry has a fantastic opportunity to move from small-scale to full-scale adoption through increased investment and support.
AI provides vast opportunities to significantly increase safety, efficiency, and optimise operations. We look forward to seeing industry truly embrace technology and reducing the digital maturity gap with other industries.
*This article was first published in Offshore Magazine ( Is the drilling industry leading the AI revolution or falling behind? | Offshore )
Pictured above are Duco de Haan (left) & Michael Fry