Diamondback Energy is expanding its use of automation, artificial intelligence and remote monitoring to change how it manages its large producing-well portfolio. During its Q2 2026 earnings call, the Permian Basin operator said it is moving toward becoming a “pump by exception company.”
The strategy is an important example of Maintenance Plus: using automation, artificial-lift optimization, predictive maintenance and targeted field intervention to reduce downtime, lower operating costs and extract more production from existing wells.
What Diamondback Said
Diamondback CFO Jere Thompson said the company is beginning to see benefits from integrating the Diamondback and Endeavor field organizations. One of those benefits is the company’s shift toward Pump by Exception, supported by substantially more automation.
Thompson said:
“We’re starting to see the benefits of that in terms of moving to a pump by exception company, a lot more automation.”
He added that AI and automation could become significant drivers in shallowing the decline of Diamondback’s production base or reducing the cost required to maintain it.
Diamondback Executive Vice President of Operations Chad McAllaster provided additional operational context. He said the company is initially applying AI and automation to artificial lift, using the technology to manage optimization daily and reduce well downtime.
Diamondback characterized the program as being in the “first inning,” indicating that deployment remains early but has significant room to expand.
What Does Pump by Exception Mean?
Pump by Exception means that Diamondback does not need field personnel to physically inspect every artificial-lift well according to the same fixed schedule.
Instead, automation continuously monitors well and pump performance. The system identifies exceptions—wells operating outside their expected performance range—and directs production personnel toward the wells requiring attention.
Depending on the artificial-lift method, the system may monitor:
- Production rate and unexpected declines
- Pump speed, runtime and shutdown frequency
- Motor current, voltage and torque
- Fluid levels and pump-fill conditions
- Rod loads and surface or downhole pump cards
- Gas interference, fluid pound and pump-off
- Pressure, temperature and flow
- Vibration, equipment alarms and failure indicators
- ESP, rod-lift, gas-lift or plunger-lift performance
A well operating normally may require no immediate field visit. A well showing lost production, abnormal loading or an impending equipment failure is elevated for review.
The operating workflow becomes:
Monitor → Detect → Prioritize → Diagnose → Adjust → Dispatch
Where possible, personnel can change pump speed, operating time, gas-injection rates or controller settings remotely. When physical work is required, the system helps ensure technicians are dispatched to the right well with a clearer understanding of the likely problem.
Artificial Lift Is Diamondback’s Starting Point
Diamondback’s decision to begin with artificial lift is commercially significant. Artificial-lift systems operate across a large portion of the company’s producing-well base and directly affect production, downtime, electricity consumption, equipment life and lease operating expenses.
Artificial lift also generates large volumes of operational data. Pump controllers, variable-frequency drives, load cells, downhole gauges, sensors and SCADA systems can provide the information required to identify deteriorating performance.
AI and analytics can then help answer practical operating questions:
- Which wells are losing production?
- Which pumps require immediate attention?
- Which wells can be adjusted remotely?
- Which failures may be preventable?
- Which field visits can be deferred?
- Where could an intervention deliver the highest production return?
This allows Diamondback to use its field organization more efficiently while managing a larger producing asset base.
The Economics of Pump by Exception
Diamondback connected the strategy directly to production economics. CEO Kaes Van’t Hof explained that lower downtime, lower spending and a shallower production decline mean the company requires less capital to sustain output.
He noted that even a one-percentage-point improvement in the decline rate can make a meaningful difference.
That relationship is central to Maintenance Plus. The economic benefit does not come from automation alone. It comes from the combination of:
- Recovering production that would otherwise be lost
- Preventing or delaying artificial-lift failures
- Extending pump and equipment run life
- Reducing unnecessary field visits
- Lowering workover and maintenance costs
- Prioritizing the highest-return interventions
- Slowing the decline of the existing production base
At Diamondback’s scale, small improvements across thousands of wells can create substantial production and cost benefits.
How Pump by Exception Is Supported in the Field
Pump by Exception requires an integrated network of equipment, communications, software and field services.
Sensors and instrumentation collect information about pump loads, pressures, fluid levels, temperatures, flow rates and equipment condition.
Pump-off controllers and variable-frequency drives regulate rod-pump speed, match pumping activity with well inflow and protect equipment from damaging operating conditions.
RTUs, PLCs and communications equipment transmit wellsite information to central production systems.
SCADA and artificial-lift surveillance platforms provide alarms, operating histories, dashboards and remote-control capabilities.
AI and analytical tools identify abnormalities, rank wells by urgency and recommend operating changes.
Field service companies perform the physical work identified by the system, including inspections, controller adjustments, ESP pulls, rod-pump repairs, chemical treatments and workovers.
Companies such as Sensia provide artificial-lift surveillance, smart alarms, remote optimization and AI-based response prioritization. SPOC Automation combines rod-pump controls, VFDs and SCADA, while Automation-X supports plunger-lift monitoring and control. Puffer-Sweiven and Vinson Process Controls support automated gas-lift and plunger-lift optimization.
These technologies create the digital foundation, but field technicians, artificial-lift specialists, workover companies and chemical providers remain essential. Automation determines where attention is required; field services deliver the intervention.
Pump by Exception Strengthens the Maintenance Plus Opportunity
Diamondback’s comments provide direct operator validation for the Maintenance Plus thesis. Large shale operators are increasingly focused on improving the performance of their installed producing-well base—not only drilling new wells.
For automation and artificial-lift companies, the opportunity is to help operators:
- Manage more wells with existing personnel
- Detect lost production earlier
- Reduce artificial-lift downtime
- Improve pump reliability and run life
- Convert field routes into exception-driven workflows
- Lower the cost of maintaining production
- Slow base decline through continuous optimization
Diamondback is still early in its deployment, but the company’s message is clear: AI and automation will play a growing role in managing artificial lift, reducing downtime and improving the economics of its production base.
Pump by Exception represents the next stage of Maintenance Plus—automating routine surveillance so people, capital and field services can be concentrated on the wells where intervention creates the most value.
Author: phinds