Artificial Intelligence in Energy Companies
We analyzed the enterprise AI use cases of 10 energy companies to understand trends, impact, and insights.
Energy companies' adoption of AI
Overview
ExxonMobil has steadily expanded its AI integration from initial exploratory and IT self-healing projects in the 1980s and early 2020s towards comprehensive operational applications including predictive maintenance, production optimization, and autonomous AI agents by 2025.
Chevron has progressively integrated AI across its operations since 2022, leveraging partnerships with firms like Eliis and Honeywell and developing proprietary platforms such as APOLO and ApEX to enhance subsurface analysis, drilling efficiency, and exploration accuracy.
ConocoPhillips has steadily increased AI adoption since 2021, leveraging machine learning and advanced analytics to optimize seismic data processing, reservoir management, drilling operations, and decision workflows, with notable platforms including cloud-based DELFI and digital twin technologies.
Phillips 66 has progressively expanded its adoption of AI technologies since at least 2018, increasingly integrating AI into operations such as equipment design acceleration (notably commented by Alex Berry in 2023), midstream asset management, and customer retail experiences including AI-based checkout systems piloted in 2025.
Marathon Petroleum has progressively integrated AI technologies across its operations since 2019, moving from digital monitoring and optimization to sophisticated AI-driven refinery optimization and data center power strategies by 2025-2026.
Valero Energy has progressively integrated AI technologies since 2023, focusing on energy consumption optimization across its facilities, predictive analytics for operational efficiency, and strategic investments in renewable fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel.
Kinder Morgan has experienced increasing natural gas demand driven significantly by the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and related digital infrastructure since 2024, leading to a $9.3 billion backlog with approximately 50-90% dedicated to natural gas projects and infrastructure expansion.
NextEra Energy has significantly integrated AI technologies since 2018, evolving from initial explorations in work management and equipment reliability at NextEra Nuclear to full-scale AI-driven operational optimization by 2025, including real-time grid load balancing, dynamic solar and wind asset management, and predictive maintenance reducing costs by up to 30% and failures by 75%.
Dominion Energy has seen a strong and increasing trend in leveraging AI-driven demand, especially fueled by data centers for artificial intelligence, driving record electricity consumption and infrastructure expansions from 2024 through early 2026.
Southern Company has significantly expanded its adoption of AI technologies since 2019, moving from collaboration on grid resilience with partners like mPrest to advanced AI-driven infrastructure and operational enhancements by 2026.
51 Use Cases in Energy
| Company | Use Case |
|---|---|
| Phillips 66 | Operational Analytics Phillips 66 uses AI-driven analytics with Seeq software to detect and analyze operational events like coke drum blowouts, enabling preventive actions to minimize recurrence and operational risk. traditional |
| Southern Company | Meter Analytics AI-driven analytics hub processes smart meter data from millions of devices, enhancing grid intelligence, outage management, and energy usage forecasting. traditional |
| Chevron | Energy Supply Chevron is building natural gas-fired power plants, including off-grid energy parks, dedicated to reliably powering AI data centers, ensuring energy demands are met for AI infrastructure while managing cost pressures on consumers. agentic |
| Marathon Petroleum | Energy Management Marathon leverages AI and natural gas infrastructure to power AI data centers, managing energy supply effectively while supporting computationally intensive AI workloads in a sustainable manner. traditional |
| NextEra Energy | Digital Transformation In partnership with Google Cloud, NextEra is leveraging AI infrastructure and tools to digitally transform its enterprise-wide operations, enhancing data center energy management and accelerating innovation to meet surging AI power demands. agentic |
| ExxonMobil | Energy Supply Building natural gas plants equipped with carbon capture technologies to provide reliable, low-carbon power to AI data centers globally, supporting the AI revolution's energy needs. traditional |
| NextEra Energy | AI Energy Provision NextEra develops and operates diverse energy generation assets—including renewables, natural gas, and nuclear—to reliably supply the explosive power demand growth driven by AI data centers, securing long-term contracts and leveraging strategic partnerships. traditional |
| Chevron | Exploration Optimization Chevron uses AI-driven platforms such as APOLO and ApEX to analyze seismic and exploration data more accurately, identifying optimal drilling and resource extraction locations efficiently, reducing manual effort and improving decision speed. generative |
| Phillips 66 | Risk Management Advanced analytics and AI tools support Phillips 66's risk management and market portfolio optionality, helping optimize margins and operational agility in volatile markets. traditional |
| Kinder Morgan | Security Automation Kinder Morgan applies advanced AI technologies and Zero Trust security models to transform data center access security and streamline operations, enhancing protection of critical infrastructure. agentic |