ExxonMobil, Microsoft form digital partnership

ExxonMobil and Microsoft have forged a partnership designed to increase Permian profitability.

Officials said the effort makes Permian Basin operations the largest-ever oil and gas acreage to use cloud technology. The joint venture would generate billions in net cash flow over the next decade through improvements in analyses and enhancements to operational efficiencies.

“The combination of Microsoft’s technologies with our unique strengths in oilfield technologies, production efficiency and integration will help drive growth in the Permian and serve as a model for additional implementation across the U.S. and abroad,” Staale Gjervik, senior vice president, Permian Integrated Development for XTO, said. “The unconventional business is fast moving, complex and data rich, which makes it well suited for the application of digital technologies to strengthen our operations and help deliver greater value.”

The collaboration, per officials, comprises an integrated cloud environment collecting real-time data from oil field assets spanning hundreds of miles. The data will help ExxonMobil with drilling optimization, well completions and prioritization of personnel deployment.

“ExxonMobil is leading the way for industry, grounding their goals in making data-driven decisions that will result in safer operations for their employees and more profitable activities for the company,” Alysa Taylor, corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Applications and Industry, said. “Our cloud infrastructure and business applications will continue to support ExxonMobil as it fully realizes its strategy across the Permian.”