Collaboration NEWS

DNV has awarded an Approval in Principle (AiP) to Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) for its proprietary AssetCare system, a suite of digital services to support an asset's lifecycle needs. The AiP award follows the signing of an MOU between DNV and Keppel in April 2020. The aim of the collaboration is to improve overall efficiency of the design and construction process, and of the asset lifecycle support services for projects in the offshore and marine industry.

Schlumberger, IBM and Red Hat, signed a major collaboration pact to accelerate digital transformation across the oil and gas industry. The unique collaboration will enable Schlumberger’s use for IBM’s hybrid cloud technology Red Hat OpenShift platform. Using the container platform will enable the deployment of applications in the DELFI environment across any infrastructure, from traditional data centers to multiple clouds, including private and public.

Kongsberg Digital and ABB Turbocharging have signed a collaboration agreement on edge data collection and ship engine performance analysis. They plan to work towards a common data infrastructure and accelerate the development of value-added digital applications and services. The collaboration will enable ABB Turbocharging to use Kongsberg Digital’s data infrastructure solution for vessels, which runs on Kongsberg Digital’s Kognifai ecosystem.

US-based well control company, Wild Well Control and Oil Spill Response have formed an alliance to provide increased capability to the O&G industry. The collaboration between the two companies is designed to meet industry and regulatory expectations for a strong source control emergency response planning solution. The collaboration is said to provide a ‘one-stop solution’ to the O&G industry that covers all aspects of the emergency response.

The deal is the single-largest energy infrastructure investment in the region, and the biggest in the world in 2020. It brings $10.1 billion in foreign direct investment to the UAE. According to the agreement, the consortium will acquire a 49% stake in a newly-formed subsidiary, ADNOC Gas Pipeline Assets, with lease rights to 38 pipelines. ADNOC will hold the majority stake of 51% and will retain ownership of the pipelines.

China National Offshore Oil Corp, or CNOOC, will buy two cargoes of LNG with offset carbon emissions from Royal Dutch Shell, thus marking China's first gas imports of this kind. The companies will use carbon credits won in projects in China's northwest Xinjiang and Qinghai region to offset the carbon emissions involved in producing and consuming the two gas cargoes. The two cargoes will be auctioned at the Shanghai exchange.

WFS Technologies has joined forces with Subsea Energy Solutions to harness their combined global expertise and market-leading range of live condition monitored cable protection systems for the offshore energy industry. The collaboration will see WFS utilize its smart wireless Seatooth technologies, which provide real-time insight in extreme environments, with SES’s offshore cable and subsea umbilical, riser and flowline protection systems.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the largest offshore oil and gas producer in China, and Royal Dutch Shell, the world's leading energy and petrochemical conglomerate, signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement worth 5.6 billion U.S. dollars on Sunday. The new cooperation, based on the CNOOC and Shell Petrochemical Company Limited, is the CNOOC and Shell Huizhou phase III ethylene project.

BP has extended Petrofac’s inspection and maintenance contract for its North Sea facilities for a further three years. The award is in addition to a new four-year metering contract that covers offshore and onshore consulting and support. Last year the two parties collaborated to demonstrate new execution techniques. Petrofac combined the use of Digital Twin technology, Connected Worker and its proprietary software BuildME to digitalize all campaign maintenance and inspection.

Houston-based Chemicals manufacturer, Nissan Chemical America Corporation (NCA) has joined hands with industrial gas suppliers, Messer Americas, to enhance oil and gas production. The two firms have collaboratively developed a treatment, nanoActiv HnP—an energized, fast turnaround style “Huff ‘n Puff”— which incorporates nanoActiv with a CO₂ or N₂ gas application method to enhance oil and gas recovery.

In a major step towards the deployment of Artificial Intelligence in the energy industry, Baker Hughes, C3.ai and Microsoft have come together to deliver enterprise AI solutions to the energy industry. The alliance will allow clients to leverage the energy technology expertise of Baker Hughes, C3.ai’s proven AI platform and applications, and the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform. The solutions are custom-designed to tackle challenges across the entire value chain.

State-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation (ADNOC) has entered into an agreement with Chinese oil major, CNOOC to collaborate in the upstream and downstream sectors and LNG. The agreement requires the firms to share knowledge, best strategies and technologies in ultra-sour gas development. ADNOC and CNOOC will also consider business opportunities in the downstream sector. Adnoc Group CEO and CNOOC chairman exchanged the Strategic Framework Agreement.

World’s largest oilfield services company, Schlumberger has inked an agreement with Russian state-run Gazprom Neft for technological cooperation in well logging. The two sides will join forces to integrate the latest logging technologies into the expert geophysics company. The oilfield services giant will offer engineering support to its partners and train staff of the operating units of the company.

Russian gas giant, Gazprom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan’s Itochu Corporation on the Baltic LNG project. Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and CEO, Itochu Corporation held a working meeting in St. Petersburg. With this agreement, Gazprom and Itochu have confirmed their interest in potential collaboration in the framework of the project.

BHGE and the world-renowned Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) at the University of Strathclyde have come together to work on advanced manufacturing for oil and gas. They will jointly explore the way latest advanced manufacturing tools and processes are driving more efficient, smarter techniques to cut cost and improve productivity across BHGE’s operations. The AFRC will assist BHGE in identifying prospects to reduce costs and cycle time.

Equinor has strengthened its alliances with the global service provider companies, TechnipFMC and Aker Solutions. After entering into several framework agreements with both supplies in December 2017, new collaboration agreements have been signed recently to “establish a framework to ensure continuous improvements”. The main objective of this collaboration is to improve the safety, quality, cost and technology by subsea operation services and project execution.

Speaking at the Nigerian Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, Chevron Nigeria’s MD advocated the need of collaboration among the oil firms so as to realize sustained investment and growth in the oil and gas industry in the country. He stressed over the creation of an enabling environment for investment to prosper, all the while congratulating the Nigerian government for its efforts in the direction.

A C$2.8bn ($2.13bn) merger agreement has been signed by the Canada-based Baytex Energy and its rival oil company, Raging River Exploration. The merged entity will trade under the name Baytex Energy, with a total worth of approximately $5bn. The combined firm will have an approximate production capacity of 94,000 boe/d, with a very diverse oil asset portfolio across Canada and in Texas.