Deploying Autonomous Oil & Gas Production Operations with an Adaptive Controller

Ambyint Inc.


Project Type

Demonstration

Project Value

$7,940,000

Project Status

Complete

Location

#119, 1440 Aviation Park NE, Calgary

Funding Amount

$2,000,000

In 2018 Ambyint set out to deploy autonomous oil and gas production operations at scale on wells utilizing rod lift and plunger lift. The project’s initial focus was on deploying edge/IIoT technologies and data analytics to well optimization. The project transitioned to a greater platform focus to provide a feature set that covers all aspects of production operations. Commercial feedback directed Ambyint to focus on supporting multiple deployment models to support the varying environments customers presented to them. Post project completion Ambyint completed a Lifetime Customer Value exercise with a major customer with a 17 month run time and achieved significant benefits across their key metrics.

Ambyint’s strategy for delivering industrial autonomy is focused on several steps that include:

  • Understand customers’ problems and end goals
  • Perform business analysis to determine company alignment in delivering autonomy
  • Evaluate and screen potential solutions
  • Concept development and machine learning
  • Testing and deployment
  • Deliver suitable product solution that provides control in the majority of scenarios

The current ‘state of the art’ automation and optimization technology stack is fundamentally limited in its ability to enable more advanced control and analytics. Optimization is susceptible to wide dispersion in outcomes when left to manual processes and existing technology. There is therefore significant value in the standardization and alignment that autonomy brings. With the advent of new edge/IIoT technologies and data analytics advances, this serves as an opportunity to bring new capabilities and deliver a step-change in outcomes to the ~1.2 million producing wells in North America.