Equinor

With Norwegian authorities giving the go-ahead for startup, oil shipments from the massive Equinor-operated North Sea field could begin as soon as October, one month ahead of schedule.

Partnerships with big tech, tech startups, and innovative service companies—and the merging of their data, cloud, and software applications—are proving essential for operators in the scaling phase of digital deployment. Equinor, Microsoft, and Halliburton are among those joining forces.

If you can see it, then maybe you can control it. This sums up the latest quest that the unconventional engineering community embarked upon to get a better understanding of proper well spacing and how fractures really interact.

Digital technologies serve as a primary theme of this year’s group, with a few environmentally conscious firms included in the mix.

The subsea operations company said its most recent campaign is the first fully unmanned offshore pipeline inspection completed “over the horizon,” surveying up to 100 km from the shore.

The firms are now partners on multiple blocks in the North Argentina Basin.

Australia’s BHP Billiton and the recently acquired Anadarko Petroleum submitted the largest dollar totals of high bids in US Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 253.

Equinor is using its digital transformation to be more sustainable. “It’s not just about running a smarter business," said Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, Equinor's senior vice president of sustainability. "It’s also about running a more sustainable business.”

One of the largest industrial projects in the UK in recent years, Mariner marks Equinor’s first operated field on the UK Continental Shelf. It is expected to produce 70,000 BOPD at peak rates.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has given clearance to start up facilities at the North Sea field, which straddles the line between the UK and Norwegian sectors. Production is set to begin in September.