Petronas, Microsoft, Cegal join forces for upstream digital innovation

Petronas Digital, the digital arm of Malaysia’s Petronas, Microsoft, and Cegal have come together to drive digital innovation in the upstream sector, Petronas said on August 18.

The focus area would be the construction of Microsoft Azure High-Performance Computing (HPC) and AI infrastructure platform. This innovative platform is expected to help Petronas' upstream operations by harnessing the power of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

The MoU regarding this was signed by Petronas Digital CEO Phuah Aik Chong, Microsoft Malaysia managing director K Raman, and Cegal CEO Dagfinn Ringas. Also present during the signing ceremony was Petronas vice president of group technology and commercialisation, Aadrin Azly. 

"The collaboration has the potential to unlock new possibilities and drive innovation in the upstream value chain, leveraging on the domain expertise of Petronas, advanced capabilities of Azure’s HPC, AI infrastructure solution and the expertise of Cegal," said Azly. "HPC and AI capabilities can further optimize the delivery of our energy offerings and innovate operations within the wider energy industry."

This initiative builds upon the partnership between Petronas, Microsoft, and Cegal, which has already propelled exploration activities through enhanced cloud agility, automation, and data lifecycle management, Petronas said.

"As a technology partner to Petronas, we are committed to help accelerate their innovation journey with Microsoft’s artificial intelligence and Microsoft Azure High Performance Computing solutions," stated Raman.

"Moving high-performance computing (HPC) workloads to the cloud with a managed service from Cegal has been a game-changer deal for us in Asia and a big vote of confidence from one of the largest and most professional energy companies in the world,” Cegal said.