SLB and Vår Energi embark on digital quest to speed up oil & gas decision-making
What happened
SLB and Vår Energi expanded a collaboration to deploy a cloud-native digital platform (Delfi) that links exploration, well planning, subsea design and production to speed decisions. The report says standardized workflows aim to shorten planning cycles by enabling concurrent cross-discipline work, making decision turnarounds faster and more consistent. Watch whether operators formalize acceptance gates and who holds data/connectivity responsibilities as the platform moves from planning to execution
Buyer takeaway
Treat this as a material operational change: concurrent digital planning reduces handoffs but increases dependency on data access, ownership, and service terms
Cost / money
Directional cost impact: cloud-native deployments and integrated workflows can shift costs into recurring cloud/services unless contracts separate software and execution scopes
Supplier / commercial
Vendors may propose bundled software-plus-services; require separable SOWs and clear pass-through clauses to retain competitive leverage
Safety / operations
Faster planning increases reliance on trusted data for safe execution; absent acceptance gates, uptime and execution risk can rise
What to watch
Watch for pilot or workflow rollouts without formal operational acceptance criteria or unclear data responsibilities
Key facts
- Expanded deployment to scale well planning and integrated field development across the Norweg
- Platform (Delfi) links exploration, well planning, subsea design and production
- Article notes planning cycles shortening via concurrent workflows
Source excerpts
Rakesh Jaggi, President of SLB’s Digital business, commented: “As offshore developments become more complex, performance increasingly depends on how quickly teams can align, evaluate options and make decisions using trusted data. “By bringing disciplines together in an integrated digital environment, operators can shorten planning cycles and improve the speed and quality of decisions needed to progress opportunities, including marginal subsea tiebacks
Vår Energi is deploying the Delfi digital platform to connect exploration, subsurface evaluation, well planning, subsea design, field development planning, and production in a cloud-native environment. By enabling teams to work concurrently using shared data and standardized workflows, SLB claims the approach reduces handoffs and rework, supporting more consistent, timely decision-making from early evaluation through development planning
Standardized, integrated workflows are perceived to enable concurrent cross-discipline work, reducing handoffs and rework while improving timely, trusted-data decisions for mature offshore assets, including marginal subsea tie-backs
