The Permian Basin is the largest and most productive oil and gas field anywhere in the US, covering around 85,000 square miles across Texas and New Mexico.
ExxonMobil and its predecessor companies have operated in the Basin for almost a century now, though the era of shale saw its presence expand significantly.
Today, the company has more than 30 drilling rigs across the plains which together produce around 1.8 million barrels of oil and three million cubic feet of natural gas each and every day.
But while this site is the cornerstone of American hydrocarbon production, the time has come for it to be modernised.
Two of Exxon's rigs in the Permian Basin are currently automated, though the company intends for at least half of its fleet to robotically controlled within the next few years.
