Aramco's AI push drives $4 billion in technology impact
Saudi energy giant doubles annual tech returns harnessing artificial intelligence
#SaudiArabia #energy - Saudi Arabia's state-owned energy giant Saudi Aramco has doubled its annual technology realisation to $4 billion in 2024, driven by strategic artificial intelligence deployment across operations. In a video interview with Bloomberg, chief executive Amin Nasser revealed that Aramco’s ongoing digital transformation has positioned Aramco as a technology company delivering energy, with AI embedded across all divisions to reduce costs, boost productivity, and lower carbon emissions. He also stated that the Dhahran-headquartered oil company has now trained over 6,000 AI-enabled professionals and hundreds of AI specialists to harness nine decades of operational data. Technology innovation has allowed Aramco to maintain a $3 per barrel extraction cost, unchanged over the past two decades.
SO WHAT? - Although Aramco’s 2024 technology realisation of $4 billion may not be 100% attributable to AI, the doubling of this value compared to a future of $2 billion in 2023 is undoubtedly AI-driven. This is one of the largest documented returns on AI investment by a single corporation globally, demonstrating how critical AI has become for the energy sector. Amin Nasser confirmed to Bloomberg that the company is committed to continuing to invest in AI and delivering not only higher performance, but using AI to enable further reduction of Aramco’s carbon footprint.
Key details about the Aramco CEO’s interview and context:
Saudi Aramco achieved $4 billion in technology realisation during 2024, with AI driving doubling the $2 billion returns realised in 2023, via a comprehensive digital transformation programme across all operational divisions. The news was revealed during an exclusive Bloomberg interview with chief executive officer Amin Nasser, which aired on Saturday.
Aramco has trained hundreds of AI specialists, plus over 6,000 AI-enabled professionals and subject matter experts, to create use cases and capture opportunities harnessing nine decades of quality operational data.
In testament to its ongoing digital transformation, technology has allowed Aramco to maintain extraction costs at $3 per barrel unchanged for the past twenty years, despite field maturity, increased water production, and inflation.
The scope of the energy giants AI applications span cost reduction, productivity enhancement, emissions reduction, water production optimisation, and improved pumping efficiency across the energy giant's operations.
Aramco's AI infrastructure leverages 90 years of accumulated data supported by computing infrastructure developed over the company's operational history.
Technology applications contribute to carbon footprint reduction whilst exploring commercial viability of emerging clean technologies including direct air capture systems
The energy giant continues training programmes to expand AI-enabled workforce capabilities, with subject matter experts creating practical applications across operational domains
ZOOM OUT - Aramco's digital transformation has accelerated dramatically during the past couple of years, with the company developing more than 300 AI use cases and creating the the world's biggest industrial large language model. The one trillion parameter METABRAIN LLM, is trained on nine decades of operational data and is now used across the entire enterprise. The energy giant has also doubled data centre computing power, expanded storage capacity to 1,500 petabytes, and deployed the world's first industrial distributed cloud with Microsoft and edge computing pioneer Armada. The milestones underscore Aramco's strategic commitment to harnessing AI and its almost unmatched ability to pay for it.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
WATCH
Watch the Bloomberg TV interview (YouTube)
Read more about Aramco’s AI achievements:
World’s 1st industrial distributed cloud deployed (Middle East AI News)
Aramco training over 6,000 AI developers (Middle East AI News)
World's largest industrial LLM revealed! (Middle East AI News)