TEHRAN – Iran’s oil industry is advancing data governance and artificial intelligence initiatives to boost productivity, reduce costs and generate economic value, a senior Oil Ministry official said.
Pejman Omidmoqadami, director-general for information technology development, security and smart systems at the Oil Ministry, spoke Tuesday, Oct. 13, on the sidelines of the Second National Conference on Data Governance and Artificial Intelligence.
Efforts to establish data governance across the oil industry began about a year ago, and training for data supervisors is nearing completion, he said. About 150 supervisors have been appointed, with their official mandates to be issued after the remaining procedures are completed.
The industry is gradually entering the second phase of implementation, which focuses on developing a data governance platform, Omidmoqadami said. The platform could be unveiled by the end of the current Iranian calendar year or, at the latest, in April or May next year, depending on conditions.
The platform would mark a significant step toward the systematic use of data in management processes and decision-making, he added.
Omidmoqadami said several initiatives are underway across the Oil Ministry’s subsidiaries, including the Shahab project in the petrochemical sector and a major national project in the gas sector.
Both initiatives have data-driven components and could be assessed from a data governance perspective, although their scope extends beyond data management, he said.
Artificial intelligence offers significant potential to create added value in the oil industry, but its effective deployment depends on sound data governance and appropriate infrastructure, Omidmoqadami said.
Data can become a strategic advantage only when the necessary conditions are in place to use it effectively in emerging technologies, he added.
Investment in information technology, data governance and AI should deliver tangible economic results, including higher production, lower costs and new revenue streams, he said.
Omidmoqadami also pointed to efforts to expand AI infrastructure in the industry, saying that, according to information available to him, the National Iranian Oil Co. has approved the purchase of graphics processing units (GPUs).
Such investments demonstrate efforts to provide the infrastructure needed to deploy advanced technologies, he said.
The ultimate goal is to transform technology from a support tool into a driver of greater efficiency and value creation across Iran’s oil industry, Omidmoqadami added.