Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 and AIQ to develop AI solutions for oil and gas industry

Partnership seeks to provide opportunities for start-ups to participate in energy sector's digital transformation push

Start-ups at Hub71 secured $408m worth of investments since the inception of the technology hub three years ago. Handout

Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 is partnering with AIQ, a joint venture between Adnoc and Group 42, to explore new artificial intelligence solutions for the oil and gas industry.

As part of the agreement, Hub71 and AIQ will work together to advance the development of innovative digital technology to "unlock greater value from oil and gas operations" and help the energy industry become more sustainable, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Tomorrow’s world will be driven by AI technology that continues to enhance and transform many economic sectors like energy and industry,” Badr Al-Olama, acting chief executive of Hub71, said.

“Our partnership with AIQ comes at a time when we are attracting tech start-ups to the nation to deepen the expertise and knowledge while promoting a net-zero future for all.”

AI has “tremendous potential” to support and accelerate a reliable and lowest-cost energy transition, a report by the World Economic Forum said last year.

Through its high-tech applications, AI can integrate renewable energy resources into the power grid, support an autonomous electricity distribution system, and open up new revenue streams for demand-side flexibility, it said.

Fully decarbonising the global energy system will require between $92 trillion and $173tn of investments in energy infrastructure between 2020 and 2050. Even single-digit percentage gains in flexibility, efficiency or capacity in clean energy and low-carbon infrastructure systems can therefore lead to trillions of dollars in value and savings, the report said.

AIQ is working on critical AI projects across the oil and gas value chain, such as drilling performance, reservoir modelling, corrosion detection, and product quality. Last year, it announced a partnership with US-based Baker Hughes to boost efficiency in drilling operations.

“AI solutions are critical to the future sustainability of the oil and gas industry,” Omar Al Marzooqi, chief executive of AIQ, said.

“AIQ’s collaboration with Hub71 will enable a strong networking platform for Hub71’s start-up tech companies to participate in Adnoc’s and the wider oil and gas industry’s digital transformation and support the growing status of Abu Dhabi as a global centre for next-generation industrial development.”

Hub71 is a flagship initiative of the Dh50 billion ($13.6bn) Ghadan 21 economic stimulus programme and was established by the Abu Dhabi government, Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi Global Market, Microsoft and SoftBank in 2019.

It helps entrepreneurs to build tech companies with a global outreach.

Hub71 is currently home to start-ups from 25 countries, which operate in 18 sectors, including AI, big data and analytics.

Start-ups at Hub71 secured Dh1.5bn worth of investments since the inception of the technology hub three years back, it was announced in March.