Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on Wednesday announced the launch of AIQ, an artificial intelligence (AI) joint venture company with Group 42.

The completion of the formation of AIQ follows the signing of the JV agreement between ADNOC and G42, an Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud computing company, in November 2019 with ADNOC holding a 60 percent stake.

ADNOC said AIQ will focus on developing and commercialising AI products and applications for the oil and gas industry using G42’s expertise in AI modeling, supercomputing and its team of data scientists and software engineers.

Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Group CEO, said: "Through this new joint venture, we are able to accelerate the development of new AI solutions to optimise processes, improve planning and increase profitability for ADNOC and the wider oil and gas industry.

"This partnership model allows ADNOC to develop AI solutions and applications in a cost-efficient way and strengthens Abu Dhabi’s and our nation’s position as a global hub for AI and technology driven industrial growth."

Peng Xiao, Group CEO, G42, added: "This partnership with ADNOC offers the potential to create the AI tools for the oil and gas industry of tomorrow and we look forward to leveraging our state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure and specialised team of AI experts to help develop these new cutting-edge solutions.

"The use of AI, combined with G42’s supercomputing capabilities, as well as ADNOC’s industrial expertise and breadth of data, will unlock efficiencies across the entire value chain, inspiring new approaches to exploration, production, transportation, processing, distributions and sales."

AIQ said it has started work on a number of key AI projects across the oil and gas value chain such as drilling performance, reservoir modelling, corrosion detection, and product quality. The scope of projects will be expanded to other areas as the JV progresses, a statement added.