Andrew Yule
Andrew Yule is a co-founder and managing partner of Pontem Analytics, a global consulting company in the energy industry specializing in combining domain expertise with data-driven solutions. Andrew has 14 years of experience in the energy industry, where he has contributed to a diverse range of projects spanning both offshore and onshore. He has been a member of SPE since he began his career in 2011 and is currently a contributor for SPE’s The Way Ahead magazine as well as a chairman on the Fort Worth SPE board. He is also a member of the Young Entrepreneurial Council. His technical background includes a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and a master’s degree in data science from Southern Methodist University.
Session
In this presentation, we demonstrate how Large Language Models (LLMs) can revolutionize safety log analysis in the oil and gas industry. Our research with a major operator involved processing 15,000 safety observations through a novel multi-stage pipeline. First, we developed a domain-specific categorical framework aligned with industry standards. We then implemented an unsupervised learning approach using sentence transformers to calculate semantic similarity between observations and predefined categories. This enabled multi-dimensional classification with weighted confidence percentages. Finally, we deployed a fine-tuned LLM to assign priority scores and enhance categorization accuracy, all while maintaining data privacy through on-premises processing. The resulting system streamlines real-time safety log processing, enabling more efficient identification of potential hazards and trends. Our implementation demonstrates significant improvements in classification accuracy and processing efficiency compared to traditional methods, providing actionable insights for proactive safety management.