Regina startup uses AI to detect oil well leaks
A Regina-based tech startup says it’s the first company to use artificial intelligence (AI) to detect leaks at oil wells and pump jacks.
In the past, oil and gas companies have used staff to drive to oil wells to inspect them for any issues, such as leaks. One solution is using remote cameras to monitor oil wells, but it results in hundreds or thousands of photos being taken that have to be inspected by employees.
Founded in 2018, Wave9 takes the arduous task of inspecting those photos and hands it off to AI. Cameras and sensors placed on pump jacks are processed by the software. The user can then be alerted to issues through apps that run on tablets and smartphones.
By automating the process, Wave9 says workers are freed up to spend more time assessing problems and taking action to fix them.
“It’s a major change to the way that the business is operated,” said Wave9 CEO Ian Cunningham.
He grew up in Kipling, a small town in southeast Saskatchewan around oil country, but currently lives in Vancouver. The company is officially headquartered out of Regina, with four of its seven employees working out of Saskatchewan.
Wave9 currently has clients using its technology at operations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Cunningham said the software has already detected leaks on more than one occasion.
“It’s done its job a few times now, they’re pretty happy with how that works,” he said.
Wave9’s apps are designed to be easy to use. Cunningham doesn’t want to drown his clients in data. The app simply lets the user know the condition of well sites using colour codes. Green means everything is normal, while flashing red indicates an alarm.
Cunningham said his company is the first to crack the challenge of using AI to automate the identification of leaks through photos.
“We know that other people are trying to work towards figuring that out, but as far as we understand we’re the first ones,” he said.
Wave9’s pitch to companies is that the system can reduce operating costs, while at the same time provide a way to be environmentally responsible. Many of Wave9’s customers are companies that want to expand and start drilling more wells, but need to do it without increasing their number of staff.
Cunningham understands the concern some may have about Wave9’s automation eliminating the need for human workers, but argues the technology helps employees do their jobs more efficiently.
“Automation is here and it’s doing much the same things as what people are doing, but there’s certain things that people are much better at. That’s the more complex tasks, the figuring out what actually happened and what needs to happen to fix something. The more routine things though, then that’s where you can use automation to do the very monotonous things or the repetitive tasks,” said Cunningham.
So far Wave9 has been running on founder investment, as well as federal and provincial grants. The company received $150,000 through the Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund, and $40,800 from the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP).
Wave9 is now looking at getting outside investment to help expand its operations.