Friday, November 22, 2024

Automation News

Digitalization: Trust - The Keystone for Digital Transformation

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The slowdown of the world economy and plummeting energy consumption have eclipsed most other industry news. Oil exporting countries are coming to terms with limiting production to sustain reasonable prices, and operators are looking for ways to improve efficiency. At the same time, the marketplace created by the pandemic is forcing companies to work differently. Telepresence and remote work have become the norm, and this directly impacts how work is organized and relationships are maintained. The new…

Siemens to Give Shareholders 55% of Energy Business Spin-off

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Siemens will give 55% of its power business to shareholders when it spins it off in September, the German engineering group said on Tuesday, the latest stage in its shift away from a sprawling conglomerate.The trains to industrial software maker then wants to "significantly" reduce its remaining 45% position within 12 to 18 months after the shares are listed on Sept. 28, Siemens said, detailing the separation it announced a year ago.The flotation would be one of the biggest IPOs this year as companies…

Enabling AI in E&P

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Oilfield services company Schlumberger and software firm Dataiku have teamed up to enable the exploration and production (E&P) industry to build and deploy their own artificial intelligence (AI) solutions across the full breadth of their upstream workflows within the DELFI cognitive E&P environment.Under an exclusive technology agreement, the partners will deliver new capabilities to help petrotechnical domain experts bridge the gap between machine learning and domain expertise to enable better insights through AI.

Honeywell Builds ICSS for BP Offshore Platform

The U.S. engineering and automation conglomerate Honeywell International said that it has been chosen to design and deliver an integrated control and safety system (ICSS) to remotely support BP’s Cassia compression platform located offshore Trinidad and Tobago.The Cassia compression project involves the installation of a new platform, Cassia C, for compressing the gas produced by the nearby existing fields in the Greater Cassia Area.BP Trinidad and Tobago (BPTT), held by BP (70%) and Repsol (30%), is the owner and operator for the Cassia C platform.

Partners Bring AI to Energy

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Baker Hughes, C3.ai, and Microsoft Corp. announced an alliance to bring enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to the energy industry on the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform.This alliance will enable customers to streamline the adoption of scalable AI solutions for the energy industry that help promote safety, reliability, and sustainability. It leverages the energy technology expertise of Baker Hughes, C3.ai’s AI platform and applications, and the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform.

ORCA Hub Readies Drones for Offshore Energy

A consortium of five universities, including Heriot-Watt University, working with 35 industrial and innovation partners, has unveiled the latest results from its research collaboration.The largest academic center in the world for research into robotics technology for offshore energy infrastructure, the ORCA Hub’s aim is to advance robotics and Artificial Intelligence technologies for the inspection, repair, maintenance and certification of offshore energy platforms and assets.Creating solutions to some of the most challenging…

PTTEP, Halliburton Ink Automation Deal

(Image: Halliburton)

PTTEP, a national petroleum exploration and production company in Thailand, selected Halliburton Landmark for joint development of new well design workflow to automate drilling and completion engineering processes across the well lifecycle, the US-based oilfield services company announced.Halliburton said the new workflow is based on PTTEP well design initiative which will be developed using Landmark Digital Well Program, an application within DecisionSpace 365, which transforms how wells are constructed…

Halliburton Introduces Automated Drilling Telemetry Service

Quick and reliable data transmission enables faster well deliveryOilfield services company Halliburton released a new measurement while drilling (MWD) technology designed to provide quick and reliable downhole information at extended depths to deliver wells faster. This capability helps operators drill longer laterals, make improved geosteering decisions and reduce well time to maximize their asset value, the manufacturer said.The QuickPulse Automated Directional Gamma Service system combines directional, vibration and gamma ray sensors with a strong transmission signal that overcomes most downhole interference.

Schlumberger CEO Outlines Digital Strategy

Schlumberger CEO Olivier Le Peuch (Photo: Schlumberger)

Schlumberger NV's newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer Olivier Le Peuch on Wednesday outlined his vision for the world's largest oilfield services company, vowing to exit unprofitable businesses, restructure some units and focus on returns.In his first public remarks since taking office in July, the 32-year company veteran also warned the company would record a sizeable, non-cash charge to write down assets in the current quarter. He did not specify the size of the writedown.Le Peuch, who replaced former CEO Paal Kibsgaard nearly two months ago…

Woodside to Implement Schlumberger's DELFI

The DELFI cognitive exploration and production environment delivers integration and connectivity across domains from planning to operations. (Image: Schlumberger)

Australia's largest oil and gas operator Woodside Energy will leverage Schlumberger's DELFI cognitive cloud-based software environment in an effort to increase consistency, reduce study cycle time and foster innovation in its subsurface characterization and development activities, Schlumberger announced on Tuesday.According to Schlumberger, the DELFI environment delivers extensive integration and connectivity across E&P domains from planning to operations, built around openness and extensibility.

Schlumberger Taps Google as Preferred Cloud Provider

(Image: Schlumberger)

Services company Schlumberger said on Monday it has renewed and expanded its agreement with Google Cloud to develop cloud-native exploration and production (E&P) applications to help its customers derive actionable insights from data and harness the power of Google’s cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.Schlumberger has deployed its oil and gas petrotechnical software suite, including WesternGeco Omega geophysical data processing platform and Software Integrated Solutions DELFI cognitive E&P environment on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to perform seismic processing…

Voser Steps in as Interim CEO at ABB

Peter Voser (Photo: ABB)

ABB Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer has quit the Swiss industrial group as the board and major shareholders look for a speedier turnaround at the maker of industrial robots and supplier of factory automation.Spiesshofer’s abrupt exit follows the launch of the biggest overhaul in ABB’s 31-year history to reposition the company more toward digital industries and agreeing to activist shareholder demands to sell its power grids business.But the latest revamp by the former management consultant failed to revitalize ABB’s stock…

Talakar Named CEO of Siemens Oil & Gas

Arja Talakar (Photo: Siemens)

Arja Talakar has been appointed CEO of Siemens Oil & Gas, effective April 1, 2019. He will be based in Houston.Talakar brings to this position extensive leadership experience. Prior to taking this new role, he was responsible for Siemens Saudi Arabia. He began his career with Siemens in 1996 as a rotating equipment and automation systems engineer and has since held several roles of increasing responsibility across the globe."The energy industry is transforming amidst a digital and technological revolution, which moves us toward evermore complex, multi-modal and decentralized systems," Talakar said.

Schlumberger, Rockwell Form Automation JV

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Industrial automation and information company Rockwell Automation and oilfield services provider Schlumberger have teamed up to create what they're calling the first fully integrated digital oilfield automation solutions provider.The new Houston based joint venture, Sensia, is expected to begin serving customers in the summer of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.“Oilfield operators strive to maximize the value of their investments by safely reducing the time from drilling to production…

Ivar Aasen Now Operated from Land

Ivar Aasen platform (Photo: Aker BP)

Aker BP on Wednesday said it has begun operating the permanently manned North Sea platform Ivar Aasen from an onshore control room in Trondheim, Norway.The Ivar Aasen platform was constructed with two identical control rooms – one on the platform and the other in Trondheim – and the Norwegian company said the plan has always been to move the controls to land. The company received the green light from Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority in November and this week started using its onshore site to monitor facilities, production, equipment and follow up everything that takes place on the field.

Digitalization Can Save Upstream Business $73 Bln a Year

The Ivar Aasen platform in the North Sea transmits vast volumes of data back to shore. (Photo: Aker BP)

Energy firms could save an annual $73 billion within five years in oil and gas exploration and production by making better use of existing computing technology, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said.Exploration and production, known as the upstream industry, requires energy firms to analyze huge amounts of seismic and geological data and to monitor and maintain offshore platforms and other complex assets, often in high-risk environments.In a report on how technology can be used for these tasks and potential savings…

Unmanned Platform Starts Production at Oseberg Vestflanken 2

The Oseberg area (Photo: Equinor)

The Oseberg Vestflanken 2 field in the North Sea came on stream on Sunday. Remote-operated from the Oseberg field center, the new Oseberg H platform is the first unmanned platform on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Recoverable resources are 110 million barrels.“With Oseberg H we take a huge technological leap forward. The fully automatic, unmanned and remote-operated platform is digitalization in practice, and I am proud of Equinor and its partners having chosen this in-house developed solution…