Equinor and Shell have signed a memorandum of understanding on digital collaboration to develop solutions and methods together through the exchange of expertise within areas like data science, artificial intelligence and 3D printing.

The collaboration, signed on March 5, is expected to entail co-innovation across the whole value chain, such as maintenance, production optimization and supply chain management.

“We are already collaborating closely in the Open Subsurface Data Universe initiative and see many mutual benefits as both companies have applied cloud-based digital solutions as an approach to our industry’s digital transformation. Such collaborations are increasingly important to strengthen safety, reduce carbon emissions and realize value by applying digital technologies,” Torbjørn F. Folgerø, chief digital officer at Equinor ASA, said.

The agreement will be further detailed on a project basis. It will enable the companies an agile foundation to explore specific digital initiatives and projects.

Equinor recently increased its 2025 improvement ambition by 50%, from $2-to-$3 billion mainly due to scaling digital solutions across our global portfolio faster than expected contributing to increased production as well as reducing maintenance, drilling and facility cost.

The speed of implementation of new digital solutions has already delivered a cashflow impact of more than $400 million in 2019, mainly due to earlier start-up of Johan Sverdrup and increased uptime on assets connected to our integrated operations center.