Oil giant Saudi Aramco is leading the way in investing in artificial intelligence (AI) for the oil and gas industry, according to a new report from GlobalData.
Oil and gas companies have not usually been quick to adopt emerging technologies in the past, but this does not seem to be the case with AI. Shale operators in the US, for example, have been particularly motivated to bring down their relatively high production costs by using AI to enable faster, more accurate drilling.
According to Global Data’s report, some $3.5 billion was spent last year by Saudi Aramco on research and development in up to 250 innovation areas, such as AI, robotics and drones. Aramco already has some of the lowest production costs for crude oil in the world, but these new technologies could bring these costs down further and strengthen the oil giant’s competitive advantage.
Aramco is traditionally an oil and gas company, although it did recently acquire the Valvoline Global lubricant brand. Nevertheless, the company appears to be diversifying into other technological areas. GlobalData’s practice head of innovation, Sourabh Nyalkalkar, said about this:
“Aramco is also betting on futuristic technologies. The company is closely monitoring the startup ecosystem and has invested in several companies such as Pragmatic, which develops flexible semiconductor chips, and Sunrate, a fintech company.”
The report also highlights how the company has established the Saudi Accelerated Innovation Laboratory (SAIL), which is a digital innovation ecosystem for driving the development of innovative digital products.
