MCF, the North American company that is the first to offer investors exposure to European natural gas since Russia invaded Ukraine, recognized the importance of this technology early on and has employed it extensively wherever possible in their search for gas across Europe, according to CEO James Hill.

Previously, humans selected drilling prospects visually using 3D seismic data, supplemented by visual hydrocarbon markers. Thanks to modern software, they can now dig in locations they couldn’t before. AI and machine learning can notice things that humans cannot.

MCF Energy possesses both—the ability of AI to see beyond human sight and prospects with a previously drilled well that produced gas in Austria, as well as two earlier discoveries in Germany. MCF has just begun drilling at its Welchau project in Austria. Welchau is a geological formation visible from space that encompasses around 100 square kilometers. Last year, an independent review estimated potentially recoverable resources to be at 100 million barrels of oil equivalent.

“The Machine Learning technology that MCF Energy is using allows for the computer to ‘see’ information within seismic data which the human eye cannot. This technology is a game changer and is only now being discovered by other operators,” MCF Energy’s Hill told Oilprice.com recently.