AI companies race to lock down oil clients

Tech companies are pitching bespoke, AI-driven tools to help operate drilling rigs, refineries, and other oil assets. AI companies are racing to lock down clients in the oil industry. A deal announced Monday between ADNOC and OpenAI was the highest-profile example in a broader push at ADIPEC by tech companies to pitch bespoke, AI-driven tools to help operate drilling rigs, refineries, and other oil assets. Thanks to the breakneck evolution of frontier AI models, “We’re now really seeing the technology mature to the level where it will make a significant change in the operating processes within the sector,” said Dan Jeavons, president of UK-based Applied Computing. The company, which counts numerous veterans of Shell and other producers on its staff, uses AI to process millions of data points coming from sensors inside oil infrastructure and help the operator work more efficiently, identify malfunctions faster, and reduce emissions. Competition in this space is heating up; last week Honeywell Technologies launched an AI platform at the new Dangote refinery in Nigeria.