Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway – Equinor and Shell have signed a memorandum of understanding on digital collaboration.
The two companies plan to jointly develop solutions via an exchange of expertise in areas such as data science, artificial intelligence, and 3D printing.
According to Equinor, the collaboration could apply to the ‘whole value chain’, i.e. maintenance, production optimization, and supply chain management.
Torbjørn F. Folgerø, the company’s chief digital officer, said: “We are already collaborating closely in the Open Subsurface Data Universe (OSDU) initiative and see many mutual benefits as both companies have applied cloud-based digital solutions as an approach to our industry’s digital transformation.
“Such collaborations are increasingly important to strengthen safety, reduce carbon emissions and realize value by applying digital technologies.”
The scope of the agreement will be further detailed on a project-by project basis.
Alexander Boekhorst, Shell’s vice president for digitalization and computer science, said: “Open Innovation is key to accelerating digital innovation across the energy industry. Collaborating and building on others’ strengths is critical to deliver competitive and affordable technology.”
Recently Equinor upped its goal for 2025 improvement by 50%, from $2 billion to $3 billion, mainly to be achieved through scaling of digital solutions across the company’s global portfolio faster.
The aims are to increase production while at the same time reducing maintenance, drilling and facility costs.
By implementing new digital solutions, the company claims to have delivered a beneficial cashflow impact in 2019 of more than $400 million. The main factors were the early start-up of the Johan Sverdrup field in the Norwegian North Sea and increased uptime on assets connected to the company’s integrated operations center.
“Forming new partnerships and working closer with our suppliers is critical to further deliver on our improvement ambition,” Folgerø added.
03/05/2020
