Norway’s AlphaGo moment: Why 2025 changed the game
In 2016, Google’s AlphaGo played “Move 37” against Lee Sedol – a move that looked bafflingly wrong to human experts but ultimately secured the win. In 2025, the Norwegian Continental…
Technology
“It will make you look like a hero”
“When we start shaving off millions of each well, then we are talking business,” says Iain Whyte from Islay Subsurface. “That’s the prize we’re all after.” But how to win…
Hunting for sands
If a school bus driver is instructed to stop the vehicle within a fraction of a meter, there needs to be systematic speed and brake control in place. Otherwise, the…
Producing more by producing less
“The pressure in the separation unit, where the produced oil is separated from gas, is the ultimate driver for your entire field development approach,” says Alexey Danilko, production engineer at…
Quantifying the hydrogen-generation potential of iron-bearing rocks
Everyone working in basin modelling and geochemistry knows what Rock Eval machines do; they provide data on how much organic carbon is in a source rock sample, how much has…
It’s time to introduce chromostratigraphy
“Off-white, grey, quartz-rich, some occluded quartz and kaolinite.” Simon Molyneux cites the description of a cutting sample from a composite well log, which is thought to represent an interval of…
“FWI has changed the game”
“I’m a petroleum engineer, but I’ve been in the exploration and seismic business since the 1970s,” says Rafael when we meet on Teams a week before the IMAGE Conference in…
From scattered campfires to integrated cities: The future of energy software
For the last decade, the technology landscape of the energy industry has resembled a wilderness at night – vast, dark and punctuated by innovative points of light. Over time, these…
PETRONAS’s digital gambit: Architecting an AI-powered E&P ecosystem
In a strategic pivot that extends far beyond typical corporate upgrades, PETRONAS is executing a national data strategy designed to redefine Malaysia’s position in the global energy landscape. The company…
Finding big fields by detecting the smallest element
“We are changing the world of exploration,” says Denis Krysanov from Heologic, when we meet on Teams. “I’m now planning on expanding Heologic’s operations in the United States,” he says.…
The human touch in reservoir modelling
As our 30-minute conversation took place on a Tuesday morning in early September, three emails arrived in Bastian’s inbox. Three separate and unrelated enquiries from customers in Switzerland, Germany, and…
Seabed mapping – let AI do the work
“I spent days, if not weeks, trawling through high-resolution photos,” a geoscientist from an oil and gas company recently told me. Why did he do that? He carried out this…