AI as critical enabler of the oil and gas sector's future

In this chapter, analysts from S&P Global examine how artificial intelligence models are developing capabilities that could transform industrial operations, including the energy sector.

This chapter provides an independent analyst perspective on the transformative yet measured role of artificial intelligence in the energy sector. While AI is widely used today as a productivity tool, its broader potential spans industrial optimization, emissions reduction, energy trading, and accelerated innovation cycles. The chapter introduces a structured framework—productivity, optimization, and innovation—to classify AI’s opportunities and impacts across the energy value chain.

Drawing on real-world applications and performance data, the analysis highlights both the promise and the practical hurdles of scaling AI, including workforce acceptance, regulatory caution, cybersecurity risks, and the challenge of integrating with legacy systems. It emphasises that AI’s impact is likely to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, progressing from modest improvements to more sophisticated, sector-wide transformation.

Benefits of reading the chapter

• Gain a clear framework for understanding AI’s role in the energy sector across three dimensions: productivity, optimization, and innovation.

• Learn how AI is already delivering measurable benefits in cost reduction, efficiency gains, and emissions management.

• Understand the barriers—technical, organizational, and regulatory—that often limit the full capture of AI’s potential.

• Explore how AI can accelerate innovation cycles, from new material discovery to advanced energy project design.

• Develop a realistic, evidence-based view of AI’s trajectory in energy—evolutionary progress built on trust, proven use cases, and cross-sector collaboration.

By engaging with this chapter, readers will gain both strategic insight and practical context, equipping them to better anticipate how AI will reshape the energy sector in the years ahead.