ExxonMobil has announced a new affiliation with Microsoft to apply its cloud-based services to ExxonMobil’s operations in the Permian Basin, where it plans to quadruple production by 2025. It will be the largest gas and oil acreage so far to implement cloud technology.
As part of the deal, ExxonMobil, which also makes crude-derived products like the lubricants from Mobil stockists, will apply Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning to boost efficiency and profitability in its upstream operations in the Permian Basin.
According to a press release from the oil major, integrating its operations with the cloud will enable the company to collect real-time data securely and consistently from its various plays around the 1.6 million acres of the Permian Basin. The company will then be able to make more informed decisions about deploying personnel, completing wells, and optimizing drilling operations. It will also enable the company to detect and repair leaks more rapidly, helping to cut its methane gas emissions. The company believes the initiative could generate billions of dollars in value over the coming decade.
Speaking for Microsoft Business Applications and Industry, Alysa Taylor praised ExxonMobil’s leading role in its digital strategy:
“ExxonMobil is leading the way for industry, grounding its goals in making data-driven decisions that will result in safer operations for its employees and more profitable activities for the company. Our cloud infrastructure and business applications will continue to support ExxonMobil as it fully realizes its strategy across the Permian.”
