Halliburton Co. on Sept. 19 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) to address national and global energy challenges.

“We are excited to collaborate with SDAIA to use data science and AI to enhance the ways we explore for, develop and produce hydrocarbons,” commented Scott Regimbald, vice president, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Halliburton.

The new partnership will use Halliburton’s DS365.ai platform to create data science and artificial intelligence (AI) applications and solutions, according to a release by the Houston-based oilfield services firm.

“Our joint efforts will address national and global energy challenges through data and AI applications that will enhance subsurface predictions and create more sustainable solutions for the energy sector,” Regimbald added in the release.

Through the Artificial Intelligence Center for Energy (AICE), which is a joint center between Ministry of Energy and SDAIA, the collaboration agreement pairs AICE’s significant efforts and resources in the data and AI space with Halliburton’s cloud-first AI and machine learning exploration and production tools along with its solutions that support more sustainable upstream operations. The two groups will share technologies and co-develop innovative solutions to aid in sustainability and subsurface prediction efforts for the oil and gas sector.

“This agreement allows us to use AI to drive the energy transition in hydrocarbons as well as accelerate the development of new energy verticals such as CCUS,” Eng. Ahmed Al-Zahrani, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Energy’s Assistant Minister for Development and Excellence, said in Halliburton’s release.

SDAIA is a government entity in Saudi Arabia that was established by a royal decree on Aug. 30, 2019 to drive the national agenda for data and AI to elevate the Kingdom as a global leader in the elite league of data driven economies. The partnership with Halliburton on Sept. 19 part of the efforts to promote those advanced technologies in the energy field, according to Dr. Majid Altuwaijri, the CEO of SDAIA’s National Center for AI—one of the three arms linked to SDAIA.

“Our aim is to address hydrogen, hydrocarbons and new energy verticals through data & AI applications and solutions for the country and global market, support expertise exchange, and contribute to building national AI capabilities and competencies in the energy sector, which is among the priority sectors,” Altuwaijri said in the release.

Comments