Eng. Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, received Mr. Dennis H. Jol, CEO of AIQ, a subsidiary of the UAE's ADNOC Group, to discuss prospects for cooperation in artificial intelligence applications and digital transformation in the oil and gas domains, supporting the Ministry's strategy to modernize the sector, maximize data utilization, and enhance the efficiency of exploration and production operations.
The Minister affirmed that artificial intelligence has become a fundamental pillar in the future of the petroleum industry, given its advanced capabilities in processing and analyzing geophysical and seismic data with unprecedented speed and accuracy, which contributes to improving the quality of decisions, accelerating exploration activities, enhancing operational efficiency, and reducing costs.
He highlighted that the Ministry is working in collaboration with its partners to leverage the latest digital solutions and artificial intelligence to maximize the chances of making new discoveries. This includes re-evaluating and reviving brownfields, and increasing their productivity, which will ultimately reflect on reducing the production cost per barrel and maximizing the economic returns from petroleum resources.
For his part, Jol presented the portfolio of smart solutions developed by AIQ, covering various activities of the petroleum industry starting from geosciences and exploration, through drilling and production, to asset management and facility integrity, and achieving three main objectives: reducing production costs, maximizing operational efficiency, and increasing added value across all stages of the value chain.
He pointed out that the company is currently moving towards developing a new generation of artificial intelligence applications based on physics and chemistry models, which enhances the accuracy of seismic data interpretation, improves exploration and development decisions, and contributes to increasing success rates and mitigating risks.
He added that AIQ has successfully implemented several applied projects, including an AI-based system for the early prediction of Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) failures. This system is capable of predicting failures approximately 45 days before they occur, supporting the sustainability of operations and minimizing production downtime. This is in addition to developing a smart platform for managing and analyzing well data, and utilizing smart cameras to enhance HSE.
They also discussed opportunities to leverage artificial intelligence technologies to support hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling operations, which contributes to improving well design and execution, maximizing field productivity, and reducing the time and cost of operations.
Additionally, they reviewed a proposal to establish a joint entity under the name "AIQ Egypt" to serve as a specialized platform for artificial intelligence applications within the Egyptian petroleum sector. This will be achieved by integrating data available through Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG) with national expertise and the advanced technologies possessed by the company, thereby supporting decision-making, accelerating exploration and production operations, and enhancing the overall competitiveness of the Egyptian petroleum sector.
