Aker BP forges alliance with SLB to digitally transform subsurface workflows

American oilfield services company SLB and Norwegian oil and gas player Aker BP have entered a long-term partnership to co-develop an AI-driven digital platform for Aker BP to accelerate planning cycles, increase production more sustainably, and reduce costs across its entire exploration and production (E&P) life cycle.

Aker BP will use the Delfi digital platform to implement new cloud-based digital solutions.

The Delfi platform made “a significant reduction” in processing time for geological and geophysical (G&G) interpretation. As some workflows experienced a reduction from hours to minutes, the company claims that AI and machine learning applications reduced fault interpretation time in petrophysical modeling workflows by 60%. 

 “We have made a long-term commitment with Aker BP to continuously improve the subsurface part of their platform, driving constant efficiency optimization and more sustainable energy production,” said Rakesh Jaggi, President, Digital & Integration at SLB.

The partners will move Aker BP’s current application portfolio to the cloud, creating an integrated platform for subsurface workflows. This platform will use cloud computing, AI, and domain expertise from SLB and Aker BP to uncover new insights from previously untapped data, improving efficiency and performance, said SLB.

“The platform we develop in partnership with SLB is a key step in realizing our strategy to build the E&P company of the future and cement our position as a digital leader,” said Per Øyvind Seljebotn, SVP Exploration & Reservoir Development at Aker BP. 

“Leveraging the cloud for data-driven subsurface workflows will increase efficiency and value creation, while helping to lower the environmental impact from our fields and discoveries.”

A key aspect of this transition is establishing a unified data environment. The platform is aligned with the Open Group’s OSDU Technical Standard and integrates closely with Microsoft’s Azure Data Manager for Energy.

“Moving to the Delfi platform is a big step forward on our data-driven journey. The use of Azure Data Manager for Energy, a strong and open collaboration with our digital ecosystem, and a high ambition to leverage GenAI are key benefits in this partnership with SLB,” said Paula Doyle, Chief Digital Officer, Aker BP. 

Back in April 2021, SLB partnered with Equinor and Microsoft to deploy the Delfi cognitive E&P environment, with seamless integration to the OSDU Data Platform to accelerate Equinor’s ability to integrate data at scale and improve decision-making.

In March 2022, SLB also unveiled that ConocoPhillips would use its cloud-based Delfi cognitive E&P environment to bring its reservoir engineering modeling, data, and workflows to the cloud.