Revolutionising operations with AI and advanced technologies

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Darius Ngo, Fellow and Senior Vice President - Yokogawa Global Business Consulting, discusses how the company is helping to transform the oil and gas sector through AI and advanced technologies

How are AI and advanced technologies transforming the oil and gas sector, and how can they help companies to operate more efficiently, safely and sustainably?

Industry 4.0 is transforming businesses through digitisation and the use of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced technologies embedded solutions has demonstrated to revolutionise the oil and gas sector by enhancing the production efficiency, safety and sustainability of business processes. Industrial AI and advanced solutions are generally pivotal in predictive maintenance, enabling real-time monitoring and early detection of equipment anomalies. This proactive approach minimises downtime, reduces maintenance costs, and enhances overall operational efficiency.

In a groundbreaking achievement, Yokogawa, in collaboration with JSR Corporation, has successfully operated a process plant autonomously for more than 35 consecutive days since 2022 using reinforcement learning AI. This marked the first instance where AI managed plant operations without human intervention, optimising for quality, yield, energy efficiency, and responsiveness to disturbances. With a stronger demand of Industrial AI, a robust composable platform is evolving and enables integration of AI for edge computing, facilitating immediate data processing and predictive analysis, which is crucial for energy-intensive sectors like oil and gas and power. This holistic approach leverages AI, cloud solutions, IoT, and real-time data analytics to create connected and efficient operations, driving innovation and sustainable growth within the oil and gas industry.

How do you view the receptiveness of Middle East operators to AI and the latest digital solutions, and how do you view the market in the region’s oil and gas sector for your solutions? Are there any projects you would like to highlight?

The Middle East's oil and gas sector is increasingly embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and digital solutions to enhance operational efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness. Leading regional operators such as Saudi Aramco and ADNOC have already made significant investments in AI technologies,  focusing on enhanced efficiency and resource optimisation to gain competitiveness in the global market.

Yokogawa recognises the Middle East as a pivotal region in the global oil and gas sector, reflecting its strategic importance through significant investments and an established local presence. Many of the local operators are already users of Yokogawa’s advanced solutions and they are accelerating adoption of embedded AI to drive Industrial Automation to Industrial Autonomy (IA2IA). Yokogawa’s solutions and robust integration capability have repeatedly demonstrated to improvise safety, productivity and sustainability.

In Yokogawa, we are pleased to have successfully implemented Yokogawa’s AI/FKDPP reinforcement learning and advanced digital solutions among the Middle East regional operating companies. This embedded AI technology has transformed operations into full autonomy in process control without human intervention. This has also expedited the next phase of generative AI combined with large language models (LLM) for an AI-based OT intelligent advisory system.

See the full interview in the latest edition of Oil Review Middle East here: