Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway– Statoil has updated its technology strategy, which focuses on safety, high value creation, and low carbon.
The new technology strategy increases the company’s research on CO2 reduction and digital solutions.
The strategy focuses on five technology directions:
- Optimize production from existing and near-field resources
- Low-carbon solutions for oil and gas
- Discover and develop frontier anddeepwater areas
- Unlock low-recovery reservoirs
- Develop renewable energy opportunities.
All directions build ondigitalization, innovation, and multidisciplinary solutions.
Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling, said: “Statoil wants to be in the forefront of the development in the oil and gas industry.Technology and innovation are vital to finding more resources and developing projects, while at the same time reducing costs and CO2 emissions.”
In 2020, Statoil said that it will spend 25% of its research funds on CO2 reductions and new energy solutions. In order to reduce emissions from oil and gas activities, efforts are being made to develop electrification technologies, reduce emissions from turbines offshore, and reduce energy consumption for new fields.
This year’s research budget totals NOK 2.6 billion ($306 million), which the company said that its goal is to spend around 50% of the budget externally.
For more than 10 years Statoil has collaborated with research institutions and the supplier industry on developingautomated drilling technology. The technology is now being applied for the first time on a mobile rig in the company’s exploration campaign in the Barents Sea.
The Research Council of Norway has supported this technology development for a long time, and, the company pointed out,DEMO2000 funds from last year’s allocation was essential to start using the technology this year.
According to Statoil, automated drilling has the potential to drill wells up to 15-20% faster by 2020.
Elisabeth B. Kvalheim, Statoil’s chief technology officer, said: “Automated drilling is one of the areas where we have come furthest with digitalization, but work is ongoing on several areas. We have only seen the beginning of the innovation opportunities offered by digitalization. Just think of the possibilities if artificial intelligence can analyze all our seismic data.”
06/19/2017
