From geothermal to CCS: how AI is powering our journey to net-zero

We are on a mission to create a world in which sustainable energy is a reality for everyone.

This is a challenge of epic proportions. It means transforming our business and embracing sustainable innovation to meet ambitious climate goals. The most significant change will be in our energy products themselves. By 2030, we aim to produce 4 TWh of geothermal energy and store 3 million tons of CO₂ annually through carbon capture and storage.

It also means innovating our own day-to-day operations and processes, using the latest digital tools to maximize efficiency, sustainability, and resilience.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of this process. We're using a range of AI-powered tools across different areas of our business to make gains wherever possible.

The Power of AI

AI technology can process extensive amounts of structured and unstructured data, outperforming human capabilities. By analysing this data and using it to streamline operations or automate processes, AI significantly improves operational efficiency and resilience.

AI is making a significant impact at OMV across various applications, including data analytics and data science. Often in combination with emerging technologies like virtual reality and the Internet of Things (IoT), it optimizes drilling, processes seismic data, model reservoirs, and enables predictive maintenance.

Integrating AI into our energy business brings numerous benefits. It improves decision-making safety, enhances risk assessments, but also drives cost-efficient investments and greater operational efficiency. This integration allows us to maximize our use of resources, optimize our energy consumption and avoid waste, thereby reducing the overall environmental footprint of our operations.

Optimizing low-carbon solutions

Both our traditional and low-carbon business areas — like geothermal energy or carbon capture and storage (CCS) — involve complex decision-making. This includes determining where to drill wells, how many to drill, and when to inject CO₂, hydrogen, or cold water.

To address these challenges, we are collaborating with Stanford University to create an AI-driven decision-making tool. This solution significantly reduces uncertainty, increases profitability, and optimizes low-carbon business development. For CCS, it strategically positions CO₂ injectors and selects effective monitoring techniques, ensuring the highest level of long-term safety in CO₂ storage.

AI tools like this also help to reduce costs significantly. They lower field design expenses such as simulation and labor costs. They also lower operational expenses related to monitoring, backup wells, and other activities. Ultimately, that enables us to expand our innovative low-carbon business and attract investment for new sustainable projects.

Generative AI for our subsurface experts

Building in-house GenAI expertise is key for OMV Energy. It enables us to create customized AI solutions aligned with our strategic goals, integrate domain-specific knowledge, and handle sensitive data securely. 

We manage a massive volume of unstructured and structured subsurface and surface data which contains valuable hidden insights, but retrieving it historically required substantial manual effort. That’s why we are building an in-house AI tool to assist us.

The OMV Energy Chat Bot, which is developed together with our colleagues in Norway, will leverage generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs), LLMs (Large Language Models), and knowledge graphs. It will enable efficient summarization, extraction, and compelling presentation of technical information for all Geoscientists. This will allow faster project execution, increased information quality, and better decision making by revealing hidden information.

The AI revolution is well underway in our industry and, at OMV, we are harnessing its potential to power our sustainable transformation. AI can provide insights that we might otherwise miss in just a fraction of the time, freeing up our human innovators to think creatively and develop sustainable solutions. Integrating AI across our operations to drive efficiency and grow our low-carbon business will help make significant CO₂ savings in the long run.

With this game-changing technology at our disposal, we are turning our vision of sustainable energy for everyone into a reality.