Artificial intelligence (AI) has been dinged for its vast (some would argue alarming) consumption of energy resources, prompting Big Tech to explore construction of massive data centers and even use of nuclear facilities to feed the proverbial beast.
But at the world’s largest gathering of energy officials in Houston last week, AI was getting a second look as a means to accelerate cheaper oil production. The oil and gas industry has used AI for years, but recent advances in large language models (LLMs) are fueling huge technology strides.
“We are able to drill more wells per year and have a better capital allocation,” Ann Davies, senior vice president of wells at BP, said in a session, explaining the oil and gas conglomerate is using AI to steer drill bits and predict potential problems in wells before they occur.
With AI, BP has been able to evaluate a tranche of seismic data in the Gulf of Mexico in 8 to 12 weeks vs. 6 to 12 months previously, enabling geoscientists to determine more quickly where to drill a well and pinpoint potential trouble spots, according to the company.
Chevron Corp. said it is using AI-powered autonomous drones from Percepto in Oklahoma and Texas to survey its shale operations from the sky to look for emissions leaks and alert field workers. The drones helped workers spend less time traversing the shale field performing routine inspections.
U.S. oil producer Devon Energy is using AI to drill in areas where it was unfeasible before, and it is collecting information for difficulties such as a fault in a formation so it can drill on the other side, Devon Chief Technology Officer Trey Lowe told Reuters. The company has machine learning models monitoring each of its oil rigs across the U.S.
Oil and gas producers are turning to AI for ways to remain profitable as oil prices plunge amid worries that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could dampen global energy demand.
As the energy industry looks for ways to increase output more efficiently, tech giants Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are pouring billions of dollars into data center and nuclear plant projects to meet surging energy demands.
On Wednesday at the same energy conference in Houston, Amazon, Google and Meta signed a non-binding pledge to at least triple nuclear energy worldwide by 2050, the latest and boldest effort yet by Big Tech.
“The unprecedented support announced today by some of the world’s most influential companies to at least triple global nuclear capacity by 2050 sends a clear signal to accelerate policy, finance and regulatory changes that enable the rapid expansion of nuclear power,” Sama Bilbao y Leon, director general of the World Nuclear Association, said in a statement.
