SLB and Vår Energi Expand Digital Collaboration to Accelerate Offshore Field Development Planning on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
Global energy technology company SLB has announced an expanded collaboration with Norwegian energy producer Vår Energi aimed at scaling digital well planning and integrated field development planning across the company’s operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The initiative represents a significant step forward in the digital transformation of offshore oil and gas development, enabling faster decision-making, improved collaboration across technical disciplines, and greater efficiency in managing increasingly complex offshore projects.
The enhanced partnership builds on the success of previous digital initiatives between the two companies. Early deployments of collaborative well planning technologies have already demonstrated substantial benefits, reducing planning cycles that traditionally took months to complete down to just a matter of days. Encouraged by these results, Vår Energi is now broadening the use of digital technologies to encompass integrated field development planning, with expectations of achieving similar improvements in efficiency, consistency, and project execution.
The move comes at a time when operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf face mounting challenges. Many offshore assets in the region are mature fields that require increasingly sophisticated strategies to maintain production levels and maximize resource recovery. At the same time, companies must manage growing development complexity, optimize capital investments, and meet evolving operational and environmental expectations. Digital technologies are becoming essential tools in helping operators address these challenges while maintaining competitiveness.
Central to the expanded collaboration is the deployment of SLB’s Delfi™ digital platform. Vår Energi will utilize the cloud-native platform to create a connected digital environment that links exploration activities, subsurface evaluation, well planning, subsea engineering, field development planning, and production operations. By bringing these traditionally separate workflows into a unified ecosystem, the company aims to improve collaboration and enable more effective decision-making throughout the entire asset lifecycle.
The integrated approach allows multidisciplinary teams to work simultaneously using shared datasets and standardized workflows. Instead of operating within isolated systems that require extensive data transfers and manual coordination, engineers, geoscientists, planners, and project teams can collaborate in real time. This significantly reduces handoffs between departments, minimizes duplication of work, and helps ensure that decisions are based on consistent and trusted information.
One of the key advantages of the Delfi platform is its ability to facilitate concurrent workflows across multiple disciplines. In conventional development planning processes, teams often work sequentially, with one department completing its analysis before passing information to another group. This can create delays, increase the risk of errors, and limit the ability to evaluate multiple development scenarios efficiently. By contrast, the cloud-based digital environment enables teams to evaluate opportunities simultaneously, accelerating planning activities and improving project agility.
The adoption of integrated digital workflows is particularly valuable for offshore developments where project complexity continues to increase. Modern offshore projects frequently involve advanced subsea infrastructure, long tieback distances, challenging reservoir conditions, and strict economic requirements. Successfully managing these projects requires rapid access to accurate data and the ability to align stakeholders around development decisions.
According to Rakesh Jaggi, president of SLB’s digital business, the ability to bring multiple disciplines together within a single digital environment is becoming increasingly important as offshore developments grow more sophisticated.
He noted that project performance is increasingly determined by how quickly teams can align objectives, assess development options, and make informed decisions using reliable data. By integrating technical disciplines into a shared digital platform, operators can shorten planning cycles while improving both the speed and quality of decision-making required to advance development opportunities.
This capability is particularly important for marginal subsea tieback projects. Such developments often involve connecting smaller discoveries to existing offshore infrastructure rather than constructing entirely new production facilities. While tieback projects can be economically attractive, they also require careful planning and coordination to ensure commercial viability. Digital tools that accelerate scenario evaluation and improve collaboration can help operators identify optimal development pathways more efficiently.
The expanded collaboration reflects a broader industry trend toward cloud-based planning environments. Across the energy sector, companies are increasingly adopting digital platforms to streamline operations, improve data accessibility, and enhance collaboration among geographically dispersed teams. Cloud-native technologies provide flexibility, scalability, and real-time access to information, making them especially valuable for large offshore projects involving multiple stakeholders.
For Vår Energi, the deployment aligns with the company’s broader strategy of maximizing value from existing resources while continuing to develop new opportunities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. As one of Norway’s leading independent oil and gas producers, the company manages a diverse portfolio of assets, including producing fields, development projects, and exploration prospects. Efficient planning processes are critical to maintaining production growth and achieving long-term operational objectives.
The implementation of the Delfi platform is expected to support improved progression from discovery to development by creating a more seamless flow of information across project phases. Exploration data can be integrated directly into subsurface evaluations, which in turn inform well planning and field development decisions. This continuity reduces the likelihood of information gaps and ensures that project teams maintain a consistent understanding of asset potential throughout the development process.
Validation studies conducted during the collaboration have already demonstrated measurable benefits. Planning cycle times that previously required months of work have been reduced to weeks, highlighting the potential for significant efficiency gains when digital workflows are applied at scale. These results suggest that broader implementation across Vår Energi’s operations could deliver substantial value by accelerating project timelines and improving resource utilization.
Beyond time savings, integrated planning approaches can also contribute to improved decision quality. Access to shared data and standardized workflows helps eliminate inconsistencies between departments, reducing uncertainty and enabling teams to evaluate development options more comprehensively. Faster access to reliable information allows organizations to respond more effectively to changing project conditions and market dynamics.
The Norwegian Continental Shelf provides an ideal environment for the application of advanced digital technologies. The region is characterized by highly developed offshore infrastructure, mature producing assets, and a strong focus on operational efficiency. As operators seek to maximize recovery from existing fields while developing smaller discoveries, digital solutions that enhance collaboration and accelerate planning are becoming increasingly important.
Industry observers view initiatives such as the SLB-Vår Energi collaboration as part of a larger digital transformation occurring throughout the energy sector. Advances in cloud computing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and collaborative software platforms are reshaping how energy companies plan, design, and operate assets. These technologies are helping organizations reduce costs, improve efficiency, and unlock additional value from existing resources.
For SLB, the expanded agreement reinforces its position as a leading provider of digital solutions for the energy industry. The company has continued to invest in technologies that support integrated workflows and data-driven decision-making, helping customers navigate increasingly complex operational environments. By working closely with operators such as Vår Energi, SLB aims to demonstrate how digital transformation can deliver tangible business outcomes across the asset lifecycle.
As offshore developments continue to evolve, the ability to connect people, processes, and data within a unified digital environment will likely become a defining factor in project success. Through the expanded deployment of the Delfi digital platform, SLB and Vår Energi are seeking to establish a more efficient and collaborative approach to offshore field development planning—one that enables faster decisions, shorter planning cycles, and greater value creation across the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Source Link: https://www.businesswire.com
