Sumitomo Corporation has acquired a stake in Earth Science Analytics AS (ESA), a technology company providing artificial intelligence (AI) based software for subsurface big-data analytics in the geoscience domain. ESA brings more digital capability to the industry as well as to the oil and gas exploration and production companies in order to accelerate their digital transformation initiative from the viewpoint of the geoscience domain. ESA is based out of Norway. 

 

The deal value or the percentage of the stake wasn't disclosed.

 

Up to now, technology development of subsurface data analytics for efficient reservoir development has been the biggest sweet-spot for the E&P’s because of the huge potential of benefit and cost-savings opportunities. Nevertheless, there are still a lot of human intervention and dependency of the individual experience, resulting in a huge uncertainty on the interpretation results and possibly less accuracy on the reserve estimation. Since recent exploration activities become more and more complex, the timing is right for a new digital technology such as AI/Machine Learning (ML) to be combined and integrated in order to make subsurface data analytics more robust.

 

By leveraging AI/ML, high performance computing and cloud computing technology, ESA offers a proprietary digital platform empowering geoscientists and decision makers with a decision support tool to predict the structure of the subsurface and its rock and fluid properties faster, more cost effective and more accurate than what can be achieved with traditional software and workflows. This leads to improved exploration success, improved field development decisions and improved reservoir management decisions which all ultimately results in increased production, recovery and revenue generation from oil and gas fields.

 

Together with ESA as well as other Norwegian technology companies (e.g., Sekal AS and Exebenus AS) which we have invested in recently, Sumitomo Corporation continuously contributes to the E&P’s digital transformation initiative by supporting to automate processes, reduce costs, save in personnel and minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, we are looking forward to collaborating with ESA to explore new “green” subsurface business opportunities such as carbon capture storage, geothermal development and underground energy storage, etc.