Shell hires Kongsberg to digitalise its global assets

Norwegian digital solutions provider Kongsberg Digital has been hired by Shell Global Solutions International to handle the digitalisation of the oil major’s global assets with digital twin technology.

Kongsberg Digital reported on Monday, 13 March 2023, that it had entered into a five-year agreement with Shell Global Solutions International to digitalise its global assets using Kongsberg Digital’s digital twin technology, which “enables better decision-making, based on actionable data to ensure safer, more cost-efficient, and sustainable operations.”

Shane McArdle, CEO at Kongsberg Digital, remarked: “We are extremely proud to support Shell in digitalising its operations. Since we began working together two years ago, Shell and Kongsberg Digital have developed a strong collaboration, enabling the digitalisation of operations on a large scale – one which has enabled new and more sustainable ways of operating heavy assets for Shell’s global workforce. With this new agreement in place, we are confirming our position as a global leading enabler of digitalising the operations of the heavy asset industry.”

The contract, which was signed in December 2022, is an amendment to the framework agreement signed in 2020, with a committed multiple-asset deployment plan and further applications to enrich Shell’s industrial work surface and user experiences. 

Owen O’Connell, Senior Vice President & CIO – Upstream and Projects & Technology at Shell, commented: “I am delighted that Shell and Kongsberg have agreed a deal to extend our collaboration. This agreement enables us to continue to strengthen our digital twin capability and expand deployment to more assets globally. Wider digital twin adoption across our assets enables Shell to continue to accelerate our digital innovation journey driving efficiency improvements.”

According to Kongsberg Digital, its digital twin technology provides actionable insight and automated workflows for optimized operations and facility management. Shell and Kongsberg Digital have collaborated closely over the last four years on digitalising assets in the energy sector.

By expanding the scope of this collaboration, both players look forward to continuing the development of the industrial work surface to optimize operations and value creation. 

This comes after Kongsberg Digital revealed a strategic, multi-year agreement with Chevron to digitalise its global assets with digital twin technology.

Regarding Kongsberg Digital’s other recent activities, it is worth noting that the firm signed an agreement in September 2022 on the Vessel Insight infrastructure with Gaslog LNG, a Bermuda-based provider of LNG shipping services.

When it comes to Shell’s digitalisation efforts, the company is advancing these through a recently announced global agreement, providing its affiliates around the globe with on-demand access to Kabal’s logistics management software.