Bahrain’s state energy company Bapco is partnering with US oilfield services giant SLB and US AI startup Geminus to squeeze more oil out of its existing wells and pipelines without having to build new infrastructure.

The deal will see machine learning used in conjunction with SLB’s Pipesim flow simulator, which engineers use to predict how oil, gas, and water will move through wells and pipelines. The result is a system that can run optimizations across Bapco’s upstream network in real time, rather than the hours it typically takes. A first pilot produced measurable results within 12 months, the companies said.

“Every barrel of additional production you unlock from existing infrastructure is the cheapest barrel you’ll ever produce,” Geminus Managing Director Chad Harkness told Semafor.