Illustrating classic asset lifecycle circle of knowledge.
By Dan Morrison – IFS
Imagine buying a used car without knowing anything about its past. You’d be taking a risk—was it cared for properly, or is it hiding problems? That’s why services like CARFAX® exist—to give buyers a clear picture of a vehicle’s history, boosting trust and often raising its value.
The same idea applies to oil and gas assets. An oil field’s worth isn’t just in what’s underground. It also depends on how efficiently the oil or gas can be extracted, how well the surface equipment is maintained, and what happens to the field when it’s time to shut down or repurpose it. The total value includes both its profits and its potential problems.
Too often, companies focus only on how fast they can drill. But as industry expert John de Wardt said, “Don’t just tell me how fast you drilled—tell me how much value you delivered.” Drilling speed is just one part of the picture. The real value comes from how well you manage the asset over its entire life.
How AI Is Changing the Game
Artificial intelligence (AI) is helping the oil and gas industry shift focus—from just short-term speed and efficiency to long-term value and smarter decision-making.
Many companies already use systems like Digital Field Operating Systems (DFOS), such as Field Operator, and Connected Well Surveillance Systems (CWSS), like Route Surveillance. These tools help track how assets are performing.
When you add AI into the mix, you start to unlock powerful insights that tie everything together. AI helps operators close the loop—connecting data from different points in an asset’s lifecycle to make better decisions and improve performance over time.
The Shift in How Assets Are Managed
For years, oil and gas companies used spreadsheets, handwritten notes, and separate databases to manage operations. That worked—until the industry changed. In the 1990s, big oil companies pulled out of shallow Gulf of Mexico fields and handed them off to smaller operators. These companies had to figure out how to get the most out of older wells while juggling complex operations like drilling and maintenance.
Take one mid-sized operator as an example. They had acquired older offshore fields that had changed hands multiple times, resulting in scattered and inconsistent records. By applying AI and digital twin technology, the company was able to reconstruct a complete history of those assets. This helped them improve maintenance practices, maintain regulatory compliance, and even uncover new production opportunities hidden in legacy data. With support from IFS technology, they generated $20 million in added value through better decision-making and enhanced recovery.
Today, a similar transition is happening in shale fields across North America. Companies aren’t just proving the presence of oil and gas—they’re fully developing it, often with multiple wells operating on the same site. But many still rely on outdated systems that don’t talk to each other, making it hard to manage everything efficiently.
From Too Much Data to Clear Answers
Today’s wells produce a huge amount of data from sensors, monitoring systems, and reports. But without the right tools, it’s hard to make sense of it all. It becomes noise.
Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) systems, when combined with DFOS and CWSS, give operators a clear framework to organize, analyze, and act on data. As one expert put it, “If your EAM system is the foundation of your digital twin, then DFOS and CWSS make sure everything is aligned.”
Think of it like fishing. If you randomly cast your line into a lake, you might catch something—but it’s not likely. But if you use sonar, maps, and expert advice, your odds go way up. That’s how AI works with your data—it helps you know exactly where to focus.
For example, one mid-sized operator had issues with pumps failing underground. Each failure didn’t seem like a big deal. But when AI looked across all their wells, a clear pattern emerged: one specific pump model was failing more often than others. This insight saved the company millions in repairs and lost production time.
The Future: Resilient Assets, Not Just Faster Ones
The future of oil and gas isn’t just about moving faster—it’s about making assets more resilient and reliable. According to research firm Gartner, asset resiliency is now a top priority. It’s not just about keeping equipment running. It’s about making sure assets deliver as much value as possible, for as long as possible.
AI is playing a major role here. Instead of waiting for things to break, companies are using AI to predict problems before they happen. This proactive approach cuts down on costly downtime and helps with compliance, emissions reporting, and sustainability goals.
What’s Next: AI Will Redefine Oil and Gas Operations
Industrial AI - AI designed specifically for industries like oil and gas - is set to change the way the business works, much like horizontal drilling and fracking changed production in the past. The impact will be huge.
For starters, AI will replace spreadsheets as the main tool for asset management. Spreadsheets won’t disappear entirely, but juggling hundreds of them isn’t sustainable. AI-powered systems will bring all the data together and provide real-time insights that help entire teams make better decisions.
Companies already moving toward digital operations are starting to track detailed metadata for every well activity. This sets the stage for the next level: AI-powered well management. Real-time data on shut-ins and reservoir conditions will allow teams to adjust operations on the fly.
In the end, AI will separate the industry leaders from the laggards. Companies that embrace it will gain a major edge. Those that don’t? They risk falling behind. My father once told me about the early days of seismic technology. He said, “The folks who stuck with dowsing rods and peach tree limbs didn’t last—they couldn’t see the value of data.” The same is true today. Industrial AI is here. The question is: who’s ready to use it?
Dan Morrison has over 30 years of experience in digital asset modeling, specializing in well and asset intervention. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed technical papers and trade articles and serves as a subject matter expert and advisor for IFS upstream oil and gas projects.
[1] Gartner, "The Future of Asset Resiliency in Oil & Gas," 2024.
