SLB, an oilfield services provider, and French energy major TotalEnergies have entered into a ten-year partnership to jointly develop next-generation digital solutions.   

The companies will co-develop advanced digital solutions to enhance access to energy resources, improve performance and increase efficiency.  

The partnership outlines a joint framework for the companies to tackle key challenges across the energy value chain such as carbon capture, utilisation and sequestration (CCUS).  

SLB and TotalEnergies will integrate digital technologies such as AI with new and existing applications on SLB's Delfi digital platform. 

The melding of digital and domain expertise between SLB and TotalEnergies is intended to expedite the development and implementation of digital solutions on a global scale.  

The co-development initiative is expected to benefit not only TotalEnergies’ operations worldwide but also the customer base of SLB. 

Initial efforts of the partnership will concentrate on subsurface digital solutions, particularly in the areas of reservoir engineering and geoscience modelling and interpretation.  

These efforts will utilise the Delfi on-demand reservoir simulation (ODRS) platform and will be enhanced through the use of AI and the combined real-world experiences of both companies. 

SLB president of digital & integration business Rakesh Jaggi said: “Collaboration and knowledge sharing are key for our industry to continuously develop more effective ways of unlocking energy access. 

“With this visionary partnership, we are combining the know-how and expertise of both companies to accelerate the delivery of new digital capabilities that will benefit the whole industry.” 

TotalEnergies president of OneTech Namita Shah said: “Through this digital partnership we will develop cutting-edge next-generation software, digital applications and new algorithms applied to geoscience.  

“Thanks to these innovative modelling technologies, we will not only be better able to utilise the analyses of geological reservoirs and basins in the oil & gas sector to reduce emissions but also to make further progress in geological carbon storage.”  

Separately, SLB has disclosed that it has received a second request for additional information from the US Department of Justice regarding its proposed $7.75bn acquisition of ChampionX.  

ChampionX has also received a similar request.  

As a result of these developments, SLB has revised its expectations for the deal's closure, and now expects it to be finalised in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024 or Q1 2025, a departure from its earlier year-end projection.