Gazprom Neft and Russia’s leading internet search company Yandex have signed a Cooperation Agreement on implementing prospective projects in the oil and gas sector. The document was signed during this year’s St Petersburg International Economic Forum, by First Deputy CEO, Gazprom Neft Vadim Yakovlev and CEO, Yandex Data Factory, Alexander Khaytin.
Making use of “Big Data”* analysis technologies, machine learning and artificial intelligence, the two companies plan to work together in drilling and well completion, in modelling oil-refining- and in optimising other technological processes. The agreement envisages the independent expert examination of existing technological solutions and the joint development and implementation of projects in R&D and technology, technological information and knowledge sharing, as well as the training and development of company employees.
Vadim Yakovlev, First Deputy CEO, Gazprom Neft, commented: “The need to bring new categories of reserves into development demands that oil companies engage in cross-functional collaboration with experts from various specialisms, as well as engaging in the analysis of large volumes of geological and technical information. Our company’s effectiveness is, today, largely dependent on our ability to utilise modern IT solutions. I have every confidence that collaboration with a market leader in digital technologies will allow Gazprom Neft to find the best possible responses to the technological challenges facing the company.”
Alexander Khitin added: “We are delighted by Gazprom Neft’s keenness to collaborate in such an exciting area. We believe that pooling our resources will simplify and accelerate the implementation of cutting-edge technologies in the oil and gas industry and create new opportunities for Gazprom Neft to grow and develop. Oil and gas is one of the most exciting industries currently, since it involves massive volumes of data, and any easy solutions for optimising production and business processes have long since been implemented. This combination, together with significant turnover and high manufacturability, creates good opportunities for securing a major effect from implementing solutions based on machine learning and artificial intelligence, and we look forward to a productive partnership, in the long term.”
Yandex is one of Russia’s leading Internet companies, managing Russia’s most popular Internet search engine and Internet portal. The Yandex Data Factory — an international division of Yandex — provides business solutions based around data-management and machine-learning technologies.
* “Big data” refers to a range of approaches, tools and processing techniques for managing massive volumes of structured and unstructured data, from various sources.
