As the global oil and gas sector witnesses sweeping changes occasioned by technological incursions, stakeholders have stressed the need for Nigeria to adopt Artificial Intelligence and Big Data solutions to bring about efficiency and enhanced operations in the nation’s oil and gas industry, writes Peter Uzoho
Nigeria currently produces about 1.9 million barrels per day of crude oil, has about 37 billion barrels oil reserve, coupled with about 197 trillion standard cubic feet of gas potential.Nigeria is an oil-dependent nation with the oil and gas sector contribution about 80 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product .
Oil bunkering has for long become a normal activity around pipeline locations with no solution to that. Fuel pumps at petrol stations are adjusted at will by attendants to cheat Nigerians with no end on sight. There is high opacity as to what transpires at the fields of oil operations. The permanent secretary who alluded to a projection that the AI market in the oil and gas was estimated to reach approximately $2.85 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.66 per cent, added that the growth, “is due to the adaptation of big data technology hence, artificial intelligence requires big data for efficiency.”
“I think this is the bedrock upon which operators and other stakeholders can lean on. I wish to conclude my remarks with a call on business leaders in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria to embrace artificial intelligence by learning from those who have succeeded and commit huge investment into the technology.
“Today, Artificial Intelligence is leading digital transformation across the oil and gas industry, from exploration to production and facility management. And many oil companies have taken advantage of this to enhance operations reliability and profitability. “The use of predictive and data-driven maintenance for production and cost efficiency has helped to reduce Mean Time To Repair , and increase Mean Time Before Failure in the industry.
“It also applies to oil/gas transportation while connecting pipelines, sensors, leak detection, alarms and emergency shutdowns; using drone technology for pipeline surveillance. “It requires the combination of technology and thinking that redefines how firms manage and execute a more harmonised approach to early well life. As drilling projects grow in ambition, smarter equals faster.”Also speaking at the conference, the Founder and Chairman of Fasmicro Group, Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe, said Nigeria needs to leverage opportunities offered by AI and big data to fix perennial lapses in the downstream sector of the nation’s oil and gas industry.