Swiss company Akselos and oil major Shell have signed a three-year enterprise framework agreement for the use of Akselos’ structural digital twin technology.
The agreement will enable Akselos to become one of the ‘verified suppliers’ for the assessments of structural integrity. It forms part of Shell’s newly formed ‘Digital Twin’ platform, which integrates many digital twin solutions for various purposes.
The agreement will support Shell’s global teams with the design, operation and asset life extension across oil and gas portfolios. Shell chief technology officer Yuri Sebregts said: “Shell’s technology organisation has been working closely with Akselos since 2015.
“I’m very pleased to see our joint efforts result in the deployment of Akselos’ structural digital twin on multiple of Shell’s assets, including the Bonga FPSO in Nigeria. This newly-signed agreement is a testament to the strength of our partnership.”
The structural digital twin is based on Akselos’ patented reduced basis finite element analysis (RB-FEA) technology.
Akselos CEO Thomas Leurent said: “We are very pleased to have reached this important milestone with one of our most valued partners. We have deployed our structural digital twins on both a fixed and floating asset in Shell’s portfolio with excellent results, and this agreement will allow us to support other parts of the business celebrate the same success.
“Shell’s vision and commitment to innovation have always impressed us and we look forward to working with the team and other partners to fully digitise their operations.”
In September, Akselos deployed a structural digital twin for Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production’s (SNEPCo’s) Bonga Main FPSO. In October, Shell’s deepwater business selected Bentley Systems’ digital twin approach to streamline the process of its capital projects and accelerate ‘first oil’ time.
