The power of AI: How oil/gas companies are using AI-powered geospatial analytics to identify and prevent potential leaks
Digital Technologies
S. DONEGAN, Satelyitcs, Cleveland, Ohio
Pipeline leaks are a chronic problem that causes significant environmental damage. Government agencies, investors, insurance companies and other stakeholders demand that oil and gas (O&G) producers better monitor pipelines for leaks that can harm the environment and the community. That said, smaller leaks can be hard to detect, and major O&G companies are seeking new approaches to adopting technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and geospatial analytics to pinpoint leaks before they become an environmental disaster.
The challenge all O&G producers face is monitoring and maintaining an aging and widely distributed pipeline infrastructure. These organizations manage thousands of miles of pipelines to deliver petroleum and natural gas. Early detection of issues such as corrosion in pipelines is essential to minimize risk, reduce environmental impacts, avoid escalating costs and eliminate the chances of public exposure to a leak.
What is geospatial analytics? Geospatial analytics is an efficient and cost-effective tool for oil, produced water and methane leak detection. O&G companies use geospatial analytics to identify potential leaks early, locate the source and determine the level of risk to guide the critical steps to avoid a costly leak.
Here is how it works. Multispectral and hyperspectral imagery is gathered from satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, planes and fixed cameras, and then analyzed to provide both alerts and qualitative results for customers. Because no other sensor platform can capture huge areas of interest as quickly and transmit the resulting data instantaneously, satellites are normally the primary source of high-resolution data. Data can be gathered daily, and results are sent to O&G organizations within hours, including the specific problem, location, magnitude and even qualitative information, which minimizes cost, impact and operational disruption for clients.
The key to identifying these small issues is utilizing satellite imagery with the highest available resolution (30-cm to 3.7-m spatial resolution compared to 25-m to 30-m spatial resolution, which is the norm) to locate the exact source of the problem before skilled personnel can be dispatched to investigate and remediate within hours of notification. This approach can identify even tiny disruptions at the component level—e.g., a leaky valve at a well site.
Combined with AI and cloud computing, which allow for infinite storage capabilities with hundreds of thousands of images of a company’s vast pipeline infrastructure, geospatial analytics has ushered in a new, climate-friendly era for the O&G industry, helping to demonstrate that high production levels and lower emissions are compatible goals.
How geospatial analytics have helped major O&G producers. The following are a few case studies on how O&G companies have utilized geospatial analytics for improved operations.
Catching leaks early and clean up in North Dakota (U.S.). North Dakota has a history of pipeline leaks. In 2017, Governor Doug Burgum’s office was committed to addressing the problem and challenged O&G and pipeline industries to stem the tide of leaks. Created by O&G and pipeline companies and backed by the State of North Dakota, the Intelligent Pipeline Integrity Program (iPIPE) was founded to work with technology providers to adapt their technologies to meet the needs of pipeline operators. iPIPE’s goal was to eliminate the negative impact of pipeline leaks, with member organizations sharing the costs to deploy new technologies.
The companies involved in iPIPE included Hess Corp., Equinor, Oasis Petroleum, Goodnight Midstream, TC Energy, Energy Transfer, MPLx, ONEOK, Whiting Oil & Gas and DCP Midstream, among others.
Using data captured from satellites and then processed for spectral analysis using AI, the results were delivered weekly to consortium members within hours of data capture, showing results including the location and magnitude of liquid leaks.
Ultimately, the initiative was a huge success, demonstrating to participating O&G producers and pipeline operators that this new technology could monitor pipelines and identify leaks before they became larger spills.
The success in North Dakota resulted in one of the founding members of iPIPE asking the author’s company (or its vendor) to monitor the company’s entire fleet of assets in the area, spread across nearly 10,000 km². As a result, numerous small pipeline and well site leaks have been identified long before the company believes it would have caught them via other means. In one specific instance, the customer said that the leak alert was provided 13 d before the company would have caught the leak via its traditional monitoring methods. This saved the company millions in cleanup costs and regulatory fines, as well as PR headaches.
A new initiative in Texas (U.S.). The success of iPIPE and the incorporation of geospatial analytics into O&G producers’ normal operations piqued the interest of other producers that wondered if the same success could be realized everywhere.
For example, in the Permian Basin, a recent report1 from Texans for Natural Gas (TNG) found that Texas producers had driven methane intensity to a record low of 0.12%. The study's authors noted the U.S. O&G industry has invested more than $300 B in technologies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions over the past two decades. Permian Basin methane intensity continues to trend downward, with methane emissions intensity falling by nearly 85% between 2011 and 2022. During that same period, total O&G production in the Permian increased by > 416%.
An initiative is now underway to create a world-first collaborative industry-led effort to proactively monitor infrastructure basin-wide to ensure companies are simultaneously working in the best interest of the environment, the industry and the shareholders. PermianSHIELD is a shared-cost program that would effectively monitor all O&G assets in the basin for liquid leaks, methane leaks, encroachment and other risks while sharing the cost among all participating O&G companies.
North Slope success: How one major oil company leveraged heavy metals algorithms to offer quantification down to single-digit parts-per-billion (ppb) concentration on land and water. North Slope water bodies have naturally occurring amounts of heavy metals, but well tailings leachate also contains similar metals. As such, another major O&G company wanted to determine whether metal concentrations in these water bodies were affected by production activities.
This O&G company leveraged heavy metals algorithms to offer quantification down to single-digit ppb concentrations on land and water. The company determined that if phosphorus could be measured, the ability to measure metals would be feasible, as well. The geospatial analytics vendor developed metal measurement algorithms with the company’s input and then calibrated them with robust ground-truthing and aerial spectral data.
Together, the two organizations continued the program for several seasons to gather data and fine-tune the algorithms for each metal. Ultimately, the results provided the company with proof that natural groundwater mechanisms, not tailings leachate, were causing the variations in metal concentrations in these lakes and ponds.
The ability to detect and quantify specific chemicals and biological species over large geographical areas is critical. Heavy metals algorithms offer quantification down to single-digit ppb concentrations on land and water. This allowed the company to save on survey costs and helps ensure the North Slope will remain pristine for generations to come.
Takeaway. Many industry players in O&G now view AI-powered geospatial analytics as essential to reducing emissions and keeping communities safe. This is important because not only does this technology help to prevent damage to the communities and the environment, but it helps the O&G industry to lessen clean-up costs, while helping with public opinion.
Finding any event in its infancy, locating the source and even the extent of the risks are all critical steps in avoiding or minimizing costly consequences, including loss of products or services. GP&LNG
LITERATURE CITED
1 Texas for Natural Gas, “Permian Basin producers: Charting a cleaner energy future,” 2023, online: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/northtexansfornaturalgas/pages/3627/attachments/original/1702335615/Permian_Basin_Producers_-_Charting_a_Cleaner_Energy_Future_2023_%281%29.pdf?1702335615
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sean Donegan is the President and CEO of Satelytics. He brings more than 30 yr of technology and software development experience to the company. A dynamic leader, Donegan’s career has been focused on building companies through creativity and innovation, recruiting highly effective teams to solve customers’ toughest challenges. Prior to Satelytics, Donegan founded or owned four successful software companies, as well as worked for 15 yr as CEO of Westbrook Technologies. Donegan earned an undergraduate degree from the University of London and a postgraduate professional qualification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
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