Five ways technology is helping bp deliver more energy, more reliably
That’s why we’re investing in technology like AI and predictive maintenance to help keep energy flowing safely and efficiently. These tools are helping us deliver some of our best-ever performance numbers for asset reliability and availability, while also helping us explore and produce oil and gas, and serve our customers.
Take a look at five ways that technology is helping to power our performance.
Increased production
AI and technology have helped to lift our upstream plant reliability to nearly 97% in the third quarter 2025. It’s helping us anticipate issues before they turn into problems so we can keep our plants up and running.
Between 2022 and 2024, we increased production from assets we operate ourselves by around 4% and protected around 10% more from going offline through surveillance and real-time monitoring and analysis.
Next-level imaging
Seismic imaging has always been a cornerstone of oil and gas exploration, but recent advances are helping us explore more accurately and successfully, as well as track changes to fields over time. This contributed to one of our best recorded years for exploration with 12 new discoveries, including through our joint ventures.
We can now get a clearer picture of what’s below the surface with the help of powerful computing and AI. We are quadrupling the capacity of our high-performance computing centre, allowing us to increase the speed at which we can process information by about 5 to 10 times, enabling higher resolution results.
“bp continues to stand out through our world-class petro-technical expertise and cutting-edge technology, reinforcing our role as a trusted partner of choice for safe, efficient and reliable performance,” says Ariel Flores, SVP subsurface.
Hours saved
There are many potential paths that can be drilled to access oil and gas under the ground. Technology is helping to make these decisions easier and faster. It used to take weeks or months to identify and plan the best route from the surface to the reservoir. Our digital tools, like the asset and wells trajectory optimizer (AWTO), have helped safely cut this time to days.
AWTO has been used to plan well paths in the Gulf of America and Egypt, and a newly developed high-performance computing enabled web app is currently in use in the North Sea and Azerbaijan in preparation for wider deployment in 2026.
Safer drilling
Data analytics is helping us identify patterns that may indicate when equipment might need maintenance, supporting reliability and helping to keep our people safer.
That includes drilling “kicks” – sudden changes in pressure and flow inside wells. We’re now getting about 90% detection , which means safer, faster responses, fewer surprises and less downtime in our wells.
“Right now, data analytics, automation and AI are already working wonders in our wells business and right across the upstream at bp,” says Ann Davies, SVP wells.
Smarter stocking
In retail, we’re piloting smart technology to make our stores more efficient and improve experiences for customers and colleagues. From self-service checkouts to retail crime intelligence platforms, we are taking action to deliver improvements.
In the UK, an AI-enabled stock replenishment system is helping us predict demand across 320 company-owned retail sites. Connected to our national distribution centre and suppliers, it manages 1,500 products to keep shelves stocked with the right items at the right time – reducing waste while helping customers find what they need, when and where they need it. The system has delivered around a $5 million reduction in inventory since launch in May 2025.
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