The trend towards greater collaboration between energy industry players on the development of digital technology is continuing with an agreement between SLB and TotalEnergies to jointly develop subsurface digital solutions and make hydrocarbon production more sustainable.
The ten-year partnership agreement establishes a framework for the companies to pool their operational expertise and software development capabilities to address challenges across the energy value chain. The new software will build on the earlier efforts of SLB (formerly Schlumberger) and TotalEnergies with Intersect, a reservoir simulator.
The digital tools developed are expected to improve modelling of the subsurface to optimize production and make it more sustainable. They will also use AI to leverage the potential of the data collected to reduce the carbon intensity of existing fields and help the development of carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS).
The partnership will initially focus on subsurface digital solutions for reservoir engineering and geoscience modelling and interpretation. SLB’s Delfi digital platform, adheres to the Open Group’s OSDU technical standard.
Processes will be automated and speeded up using AI and real-world learnings from both companies.
“Through this digital partnership we will develop cutting-edge next-generation software, digital applications and new algorithms applied to geoscience. Thanks to these innovative modelling technologies, we will not only be better able to utilize the analyses of geological reservoirs and basins in the oil and gas sector to reduce emissions but also to make further progress in geological carbon storage,” said Namita Shah, President, OneTech at TotalEnergies.
Rakesh Jaggi, President of SLB’s Digital & Integration business, described the partnership as a visionary one, providing new digital capabilities that would benefit the whole industry. “Collaboration and knowledge sharing are key for our industry to continuously develop more effective ways of unlocking energy access,” he said.
TotalEnergies said it would also support SLB by converting the company’s industrial sites around the world to solar power, based on agreements signed in Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan.
Both firms have forged alliances over recent months to augment their capabilities in digital and AI-related aspects of the industry, including AI-based tools. SLB has also raised its profile in CCUS, having formed a new joint venture with Aker Carbon Capture (ACC) earlier this year, which combines their technology portfolios, expertise and operations platforms to support carbon capture adoption in an effort to speed up industrial decarbonization. SLB holds an 80% stake in the new entity, while ACC owns 20%.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
