Statoil and the US National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) have formed a partnership to explore how technologies and knowledge from the space and oil and gas industries can be relevant to one another.
Statoil and NASA will explore a wide range of technologies. The contract was signed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, which is managed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
NASA says the "focus will be on enabling safe and efficient development and production of US and world fossil fuel reserves." The agreement provides "an opportunity for JPL to benefit from synergistic technology currently being developed in the oil and gas sector that might be used for space exploration."
"Searching for oil and gas resources has become so advanced technically over the past decade that new solutions and ideas are needed. To Statoil, this is a significant opportunity to take technologies developed by NASA and JPL for the harsh and challenging environments of space and apply them to the equally demanding environments of oil and gas production," said Lars Høier, Statoil acting senior vice president of research, development and innovation.
"We're excited to work with NASA—one of the leading research organisations globally—to evaluate the development and application of technologies that have more in common with outer space exploration than previously thought."
"This agreement is the latest example of how NASA and JPL technologies can benefit us here on Earth. It's also an example of how collaborations with other industries can be beneficial to space exploration," said JPL director Charles Elachi.
Statoil is among the most technology-intensive of major energy producers and spends US$550 million annually on research, development and innovation. It is number 39 on the Forbes 500 list of the world's largest companies.
The contract between Statoil and NASA is expected to run from 2013 to 2018 (with possibility of extension), and will focus on supercomputing, materials, robotics, development of new tools, and communication optionality.
Photo, from left, Lars Høier, senior vice president, research, development and innovation, Statoil; NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director Dr. Charles Elachi. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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