Iran to get Chinese assistance to make oil and gas fields AI-oriented

Iran plans to launch a joint venture with Chinese tech companies to employ artificial intelligence (AI) to “digitalise” production in its oil and gas fields and make “great reforms,” the research and technology head of the National Iranian Oil (NIOC) said, as per a report by Mehr News Agency on December 8.

“AI will be utilised in the whole value chain including exploration, drilling, production and development,” said Mehdi Motahhari.

He added that based on the assessment of the Chinese partners the project would result in a “20% improvement in efficiency.”

NIOC chief Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr has already said that 15 oil and gas fields have to become AI-oriented to reduce production costs.

AI processes would help “cut expenses, improve efficiency and maximise output” in hydrocarbon fields, Motahhari said.

Iran aims to ramp up oil production to more than 4.2mn barrels per day (bpd) by early 2029 under the Seventh Development Plan, a government-proposed bill that outlines major economic policies among other realms. The figure is almost 24% up from the current output level, which stands at 3.4mn bpd, according to the oil ministry.

As per the development plan, natural gas output must surpass 1.2bn cubic metres per day from 773mn cubic metres per day – an increase of more than 55%.

“If we carry out production operations with our current methods, we will incur very huge expenses, and AI can save us hundreds of millions of dollars,” Motahhari added.

He said the NIOC had already started “small experiments” for operations to use AI and had asked its subsidiaries to identify challenges related to exploration, drilling, development and production that can be solved using such modern technologies.

In mid-November, the NIOC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Iranian Presidential Office’s department for science, technology and technology-based economy to set up “the strategic centre of AI and digital oil and gas fields.”

He expressed hope that an upcoming joint meeting with Chinese companies to smarten up oil and gas fields would be the beginning of making “great reforms” in the petroleum industry.