Two leading players in the global oil and gas equipment manufacturing sector - National Oilwell Varco (NOV) of the United States and Aker Solutions of Norway - jointly announced today that they have reached a strategic partnership agreement and jointly launched a new generation of intelligent-driven blowout preventer system named "IntelliBOP 2.0". This groundbreaking technology aims to elevate well control safety from "passive response" to a new level of "active warning".
It is reported that the IntelliBOP 2.0 system, based on the traditional blowout preventer assembly, integrates a dense network of high-precision sensors and advanced machine learning algorithms. The core innovation lies in its ability to continuously analyze massive real-time data such as well pressure, temperature, and flow rate. Not only can it automatically shut off in milliseconds upon the occurrence of emergencies like well surges, but it can also predict the stability trend of the wellbore over the next 15 to 30 minutes through deep learning of data patterns, thereby providing valuable decision-making windows for the drilling team.
"It's like giving the blowout preventer an ability to 'predict the future'," the chief technology officer of NOV stated at the press conference. "Traditional well control is a 'firewall' after an accident occurs. However, the goal of IntelliBOP 2.0 is to become a 'warning aircraft', sending out alerts before risks escalate into disasters, allowing engineers to intervene in advance and avoid the situation from getting worse."
The CEO of Aker Solutions added: "The drilling environment in regions such as the North Sea is becoming increasingly complex, and the safety requirements have reached an unprecedented level. This collaboration brings together our respective top strengths in deep-sea equipment and digital technology, and is an important step for the industry towards the goal of 'zero well control accidents'."
According to the plan, the IntelliBOP 2.0 system will undergo its first offshore field test on an advanced drilling platform in the North Sea region in the first quarter of 2026. If the test is successful, this technology is expected to set new safety standards for high-risk drilling operations in deepwater, ultra-deepwater, high pressure, and high temperature environments worldwide.
Industry observers believe that this collaboration marks the entry of the oil and gas industry's digital and intelligent transformation into a deeper stage. The deep integration of AI technology with core safety equipment is redefining the safety boundaries of drilling operations.