The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Oslo Section would like to invite you to the SPE Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, 3 September 2026, presented by Samba Ba, on Building an Industry 4.0 Agentic AI for Autonomous Directional Drilling.
Agenda:
17:00 : Welcome and Icebreaker
17:30 :Presentation and Q&A
18:30–20:00 : Dinner, Drinks and Networking
Distinguished Lecture Details
Abstract:
What is the one idea you would like the members to take away from this lecture? The key takeaway is that achieving autonomous directional drilling requires more than AI-based recommendations, it requires a resilient, closed-loop system capable of continuously interpreting uncertain drilling data, optimizing decisions, and safely adapting to changing downhole conditions. Well construction is currently being challenged to become more sustainable while reducing the skill sets required to achieve efficient and consistent directional drilling operations. Directional drilling faces several challenges, including constantly changing formations, variable steering responses, planned trajectories that are difficult to follow precisely, and drilling data subject to significant uncertainties. Continuous measurements can be particularly affected by shock and vibration. At the same time, efficient navigation within the reservoir is essential for maximizing production, while conditions can vary significantly from one well to another. These challenges often require significant human expertise to achieve efficient directional drilling. Highly skilled directional drillers who consistently make optimal steering decisions are difficult for both service companies and operators to provide, and this challenge is becoming increasingly significant. This lecture will highlight the technical challenges involved in developing an AI system capable of performing autonomous directional drilling. The proposed AI system incorporates a continuous feedback loop between surface and downhole controllers to enable optimized decision-making throughout the drilling process. In addition to complex sensor fusion for accurate state estimation, an optimization engine generates the best candidate trajectory at each decision point. Several enhancements were required to progress the system from an advisory solution toward autonomous control. The system has also been designed to be significantly more resilient to unexpected measurement-while-drilling (MWD) telemetry and downlink issues. Its surface deviation controller continuously monitors incoming data and takes appropriate corrective actions when unplanned situations occur, while avoiding overreaction.
Biography:
Samba Ba has more than 20 years of experience in drilling and drilling-related technologies. He received his first Master's degree from the renowned École Polytechnique in France in 2001, specializing in Applied Mathematics. He also holds a Diplôme des Grandes Écoles from the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and a DEA from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI). Samba worked in the field within the Drilling and Measurement segment until 2006, before joining Schlumberger Cambridge Research (SCR) in Cambridge, United Kingdom, as a research scientist. He spent approximately 6.5 years conducting research related to drilling technologies. In 2012, he joined the newly established Schlumberger Motor Center of Excellence in Katy, USA, where he worked as a Project Manager until 2019. From 2019 to 2023, he served as a Domain Solution Architect, developing AI solutions for autonomous drilling while based at the Beijing Geoscience Center in China. Since 2023, Samba has been based in Houston, where he continues to work on AI-driven autonomous drilling solutions, with the goal of advancing drilling operations toward the highest levels of autonomy.
Les mer og kjøp billetter: https://speoslo.hoopla.no/event/1734747552
