Earlier this week, Microsoft announced plans to enter into a strategic alliance with multinational oil field services behemoth Halliburton with the goal of instigating the digital transformation of the oil and gas industry. The partnership will see Microsoft combine its cloud and digital transformation expertise with Halliburton’s oil field exploration and production (E&P) science, software and services.
As mentioned in the press release, researchers and engineers from both companies will leverage and optimize Microsoft technologies in machine learning, augmented reality (AR), user interactions and Industrial IoT, as well as Microsoft Azure’s high-performance infrastructure and built-in computing capabilities to deliver integrated solutions across the energy value chain.
Areas of collaboration between the two companies include applying deep learning to reservoir characterization, modeling and simulation, building domain-specific visualization for mixed reality, creating highly interactive applications and fueling the digitalization of E&P assets.
While announcing the partnership, VP of Microsoft Azure, Jason Zander, stated:
Halliburton is focused on delivering intelligent cloud solutions to drive the next generation of efficient oil and gas exploration and production. We are excited to bring the power of Azure’s hyperscale, hybrid and global cloud platform technologies to this alliance to enhance the value chain for our mutual customers.
Likewise, Senior VP of Halliburton Digital Solutions, Nagaraj Srinivasan, had this to say:
Halliburton is at the forefront of the digital transformation occurring in the E&P industry. We believe open architecture and community-based innovation are necessary to drive this fundamental change and we’re proud to work closely with an industry leader like Microsoft to deliver tailored E&P digital business solutions to our customers across the globe.
Under the terms of the strategic alliance, Microsoft Azure will now become Halliburton’s preferred public cloud provider for its iEnergy cloud solution.