KVAL: AI-Powered Drilling Performance Optimization

Drilling is a complex process with high risks and costs, especially for offshore Norway. In addition to the oil and gas industry, drilling plays a significant role in other subsurface resource development, such as geothermal energy and subsurface CO2 sequestration. The future of drilling is about improving drilling efficiency and safety though the use of digital and automation technologies. The AI-Drill project uses modern Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data to significantly reduce costs, improve development efficiency, and make the operation safer by reducing the potential for human errors. The human errors caused by the inability or, in some cases, unwillingness to react to the early signs of potentially detrimental events have led to some catastrophic events in the oil industry, such as the Macondo accident in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, as the success of automated drilling grows, more jobs would be created to support the further development of automated systems, both in R&D and in the industry. As Norway still has an ample supply of oil and gas, this leads to the potential for low-cost production that would mean a highly competitive industrial activity in Norway. Therefore, the successful development and implementation of the AI-Drill project will significantly contribute to value creation for Norwegian society.