One Digital Well, how do we get there?
McKinsey Digital, presented in 2016 a study illustrating the low level of digitalization in the oil industry. When compared to other major sectors in...
4 min read
There’s no doubt that there is a real buzz about Artificial Intelligence at the moment. Which boat do you find yourselves in?
The companies striving to be seen at the bleeding edge of a new trend?
The ones quietly going about working out how the technology can really be applied to existing solutions to create positive impact, day-to-day?
Or perhaps somewhere in the middle of the two?
At Stimline Digital, in 2023 we hired two, young and enthusiastic PhD students from the University of Agder, where they are making significant investments within the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR). Led by Professor Ole-Christoffer Granmo, CAIR is aiming for sustainable, democratic and green AI development, a vision which positions UiA and CAIR at the forefront of AI innovation, challenging the dominance of tech giants.
We have been working with our two new hires to find the best ways to help our customers benefit from AI technologies on our IDEX Collaboration Platform.
What follows is a virtual interview with them looking at the the integration of AI into well intervention, their thoughts on AI´s role in the road ahead and why an industry-specific approach can lead to more effective, more efficient and safer operations.
– Hi Raju and Bimal, can you introduce yourselves please?
— Hi, I am Raju Shrestha, originally from Nepal and currently working as a Senior AI Engineer at Stimline Digital AS, Kristiansand. From a young age, I was captivated by technology, which led me to pursue a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication engineering. My journey into machine learning began during my master’s in computer engineering, where I developed a keen interest in neural networks and deep learning through projects like handwritten digit recognition and intrusion detection. To gain a better understanding and explore new research opportunities in artificial intelligence and machine learning, I joined the PhD program in the Department of Information and Communication Technology, University of Agder, with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence. This is how I ended up in Kristiansand, Norway.
— Hi, I am Bimal Bhattarai. I completed my master’s degree at a research lab in South Korea, where I was deeply involved in, and fascinated by, research on the application of neural networks, particularly in computer vision for self-driving cars. After graduation I applied for PhD positions globally and received numerous positive responses. Ultimately, I chose to pursue my PhD at the University of Agder (UiA) due to the esteemed reputation of CAIR, one of the top AI groups in Norway. During my PhD, I worked on various applications in natural language processing.
Exciting times ahead
— You’ve been at Stimline Digital for several months now, what have you seen that excites you?
— What excites me the most is that we aren’t just talking about digital transformation – we’re actively implementing it. The integration of AI into well intervention planning is still a relatively new field, and seeing how Stimline Digital is pioneering in this area is inspiring, says Raju.
— I agree, I’ve already witnessed how AI can revolutionize the oil and gas industry by providing real-time insights, optimizing operations, and reducing risks, adds Bimal.
— And specifically, which areas have you seen where your AI expertise can be used to make some significant steps towards improving the day-to-day lives of well engineers?
— Here’s what I see as an initial focus for us, suggests Raju and lists the following areas.
- Data Integration and Analysis:
AI can integrate and analyze large volumes of data from various sources such as subsurface, production, procedural and historical operational data, providing engineers with comprehensive insights and thereby improving decision-making.
- Automated Reporting:
AI can automate the generation of reports, freeing up engineers' and offshore supervisor’s time for more critical tasks and ensuring consistent and accurate documentation.
- Cost Estimation and Budgeting:
Analyzing the past data and reports, machine learning algorithms can provide more accurate cost estimations and budgeting for well projects.
Providing value far beyond what a basic ChatBot can offer
Bimal also sees the potential of AI improving the efficiency of well engineer day-to-day operations.
— There are numerous other areas where AI can also assist well engineers, such as drilling performance analysis in completion operations and anomaly detection. We’ve already started addressing some of these challenges. For instance, we have developed an AI model that can predict the next event in intervention jobs, allowing well engineers to precisely select the next activity thereby improving the data quality and saving time.
— How do you see this evolving over the next six months?
— Over the next six months, we will initiate pilot programs to test our AI-driven data analysis tools in real-world scenarios with our existing customers. This is an essential step in validating our models and demonstrating their practical value. We also have work to do to ensure that these tools integrate seamlessly into existing workflows in the IDEX Collaboration Platform to facilitate smooth adoption by all users. If all goes to plan, we’ll have exciting new modules to release on the IDEX Collaboration Platform by the end of the year, Raju says and smiles.
Bimal nods at him before adding that many teams in software companies today are busy creating ChatBots to provide easy access to their data,
— We're doing that too; however, the key is not just to make ChatBots that let users ‘talk to their data.’ It's about integrating this capability with other smart functionalities in the apps and how that integration is done from a user experience perspective. Such integrations provide value far beyond what a basic ChatBot can offer, and that is really what our focus is now.Industry-specific approach
— Why do you think that it is important for Stimline Digital to be focussed on deploying AI solutions as part of the IDEX Collaboration Platform rather than well engineers relying on generic, non-industry specific solutions?
— The oil and gas industry has unique challenges and requirements that generic solutions often fail to address due to their lack of nuanced understanding of the complexities in drilling and well operations. By focusing on deploying AI solutions as part of the IDEX Collaboration Platform, Stimline Digital can ensure that the tools and technologies are tailored specifically to the needs of well engineers. This specialization allows us to develop more accurate and effective models that can handle the complexities of all drilling and wells operations, says Bimal.
Raju believes that integrating AI into a platform that engineers are already familiar with can facilitate smoother adoption and greater trust in the technology.
— It allows for continuous feedback and improvement based on real-world usage, leading to more accurate and useful AI assistants tailored specifically to well intervention needs. This industry-specific approach ultimately leads to more effective, safer, and more efficient operations.
— And finally, before we let you get back to developing new IDEX solutions, how much did AI help you in responding to my questions?
— Ha ha! Well, we must practice what we preach”, both replied whilst laughing. Enough said. AI is helping all of us, now. We just have to make sure that it is really adding value.
Thanks Raju and Bimal for taking the time to discuss how AI can help well engineers improve planning, execution and analysis on the IDEX Collaboration Platform.
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