Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the sultanate’s largest oil producer, launched an Autonomous Production Programme on Monday that combines artificial intelligence, advanced process control, real-time data analytics, drones and robotics to operate its production assets.
The company also signed a five-year strategic partnership with SLB and Halliburton to advance digital well construction through seven integrated digital capabilities that link subsurface planning with well execution, according to Times of Oman.
The initiatives were announced at PDO’s Autonomous and Digital Transformation Day, held under the auspices of Abdullah bin Salim Al Harthy, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance.
PDO said the production program aims to shift operations from reactive problem-solving toward predicting faults and acting earlier. As the technology develops, the company plans to introduce autonomous decision-making and actions in stages, within established operational controls and under human oversight.
The company expects the program to improve reliability and safety, optimize production performance and reduce operating costs. It did not give investment figures, a timetable or estimates of potential savings, the Oman Observer reported.
PDO also launched a Digital Twin project that links physical assets with digital models, live operational data and analytics, and announced its first agentic AI tools, built on ADAM, its internal generative AI assistant.
The SLB and Halliburton partnership is intended to standardize engineering workflows and raise productivity through more consistent use of data, and will include training and graduate opportunities for Omani nationals, the company said.
PDO also signed a memorandum of collaboration with Omani technology company Onsor Technology to support the use of locally developed computing devices across its operations.
