Technology

The contract will advance in-country value. (Image source: SLB)

SLB has signed two five-year contracts by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) to deliver wellheads and artificial lift technologies for operations in Block-6, which is known to be Oman’s largest oil and gas concession

To enhance recovery rates and ensure maximum productivity from the Block 6 assets, SLB will be providing low-pressure, high-pressure, and thermal wellheads, as well as electric submersible pumps (ESPs) and progressive cavity pumps (PCPs). The contract also has scope to advance in-country value (ICV) by supporting the expansion of local manufacturing capabilities and introducing made-in-Oman gate valve production within six months of commencement.

“These awards reflect our deep commitment to Oman’s energy future and advancing in-country value through local manufacturing and talent development,” said Jesus Lamas, president, Middle East and North Africa, SLB. “By producing more equipment in country and investing in Omani expertise, we are ensuring that PDO’s strategic goals are met with sustainable, locally driven approaches. Our focus is on delivering innovative wellhead and artificial lift solutions that drive production efficiency and maximize recovery. Through our ongoing investment in advanced technologies and tailored services, we support our customers’ production and recovery goals with capabilities designed to meet their evolving operational needs.”

SLB will be producing the wellheads at SLB’s Rusayl production centre, and ESPs will be assembled at its Nizwa assembly, repair, and testing centre, generating significant local employment. SLB's advanced technologies such as the 15k SOLIDrill modular compact wellhead system, ESP surveillance systems, and ESP permanent magnet motors will be deployed to reduce power consumption and enhance sustainability. 

The new OpreX pressure transmitter EJX S series

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has launched OpreX Pressure Transmitter EJX S Series as the successor to its core EJX A lineup of differential pressure and pressure transmitters in its OpreX field instruments family

Building on Yokogawa's proven silicon resonant sensor technology, the EJX S Series offers enhancements in accuracy, long-term stability, and durability that ensure stable plant operations and improve maintenance efficiency. Yokogawa will continue to add new models with enhanced capabilities to the EJX S lineup, according to market needs.

Main features of the OpreX pressure transmitter EJX S Series

1. Improved performance and reliability that contribute to stable plant operation

Leveraging Yokogawa’s silicon resonant sensor technology, the EJX S Series features improved accuracy, long-term stability, and rangeability.

Main specifications:
- Accuracy: ±0.025% (with optional specification code /HAC)
- Long-term stability: ±0.1% per 20 years
- Rangeability: Up to 400:1
- Support for the HART and PROFINET communication protocols

With an IP68 dustproof and waterproof rating, compliance with SIL2 requirements, and enhanced noise immunity, the EJX S Series is even more reliable and robust. In addition, a new colour backlit graphic display significantly improves visibility of process variables and device status information.

2. Streamlined specifications that reduce maintenance and operating costs

Compliance with a variety of explosion-proof standards, support for dual power connections, and advanced diagnostic functions are all provided as standard features with the EJX S Series, allowing these devices to cover a wider range of applications and reducing the need for the ordering of products with specific model and suffix codes. Furthermore, a modular design allows parts replacement and maintenance work to be carried out easily and efficiently. Together, these characteristics help to improve maintenance efficiency and reduce inventory costs.

In addition, the LCD colour display supports NAMUR NE107-compliant alert indications, enabling intuitive recognition of device status even from a distance. This facilitates faster on-site inspections.

3. Reduction of environmental impact through product design

The OpreX Pressure Transmitter EJX S Series pressure transmitters were designed to reduce environmental impact over the entire product lifecycle. CO2 emissions have been significantly reduced during the production process, helping customers reduce their Scope 3 emissions. Furthermore, the adoption of a modular design that allows for easy disassembly and disposal contributes to the optimization of customers' maintenance parts and inventory, as well as a reduction in environmental impact after use.

Major target markets are oil & gas, LNG, downstream, chemicals, power, renewable energy, food & pharma, pulp & paper, iron & steel, mining & metal, water & wastewater.

Major applications are measurement of liquid level, flow rate, pressure, etc. of liquid, gas, and steam in tanks and pipes.

OpreX is the comprehensive brand for Yokogawa's industrial automation and control business. OpreX Measurement delivers highly reliable technology for the implementation of value-enhancing operational technology and information technology integration.

Energy storage has moved to the forefront of global innovation activity. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Energy security is emerging as a leading driver of innovation, according to a new IEA report

More than 150 technology breakthroughs are identified in the IEA’s latest State of Energy Innovation report, which finds that the energy sector is increasingly becoming an innovation powerhouse, with around one in 10 patents worldwide relating to energy, underlining the sector’s central role in national security, industrial strategy and economic performance.

Innnovation highlights

Innovation highlights include solid-state air conditioning, perovskite solar cells, fusion energy, sodium-ion batteries and next-generation geothermal systems. These advances contributed to 50 upgrades in technology readiness levels among emerging energy technologies tracked by the IEA. Innovations mentioned in the MENA region include thyssenkrupp Uhde’s cutting-edge hydrogen recovery unit (HRU) at Fertiglobe’s Fertil plant in Ruwais, UAE, which enables advanced hydrogen recovery from the ammonia synthesis purge gas, allowing for increased feedstock utilisation and a 6% increase in ammonia output. Also highlighted is the partnership between ADNOC Gas, Baker Hughes, and Levidian to deploy Levidian’s patented LOOP technology at ADNOC’s Habshan Gas Processing Plant. This captures carbon from methane and turns it into graphene and hydrogen.

The report highlights the shift in policy towards energy security, ahead of affordability and emissions reduction, with new initiatives such as the US Genesis Mission and the EU Competitiveness Fund reflecting growing emphasis on strengthening domestic technological capabilities and securing critical supply chains.

However, markets for some clean energy technologies weakened, the report says. For example, project delays and cancellations reduced expectations for the deployment of low-emissions hydrogen this decade. The IEA’s renewables deployment forecast for 2030 was downgraded by 5% in 2025 in response to policy and regulatory changes. Several major first-of-a-kind energy technology projects under construction, in areas such as near-zero emissions steel and direct air capture, were hit with higher costs and policy uncertainty.

“Energy innovation has become a strategic priority for governments around the world,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol. “With energy security and industrial competitiveness at the top of the agenda, countries that sustain investment in research, demonstration and early deployment will be best positioned to lead the next generation of energy technologies.”

Energy storage tops global innovation activity, with batteries accounting for 40% of all energy patenting in 2023. China, Korea, and Japan remain leading sources of lithium-ion battery patents, with China’s share rising sharply over the past decade. In solar innovation, patenting has shifted toward perovskite solar cells, which now account for over 70% of solar cell patents by material.

The report underscores the importance of public support for energy innovation, but notes a decline in public and corporate R&D in 2025 as well as a drop in venture capital investment in energy technology, with high interest rates, macroeconomic uncertainly and competition from artificial intelligence ventures impacting energy capital flows. In the corporate sector Aramco is highlighted as a major R&D spender, with annual average R&D spending of US$1,300mn from 2022-2024.

Nevertheless, new growth areas are emerging. Funding for fusion, nuclear fission, critical minerals, geothermal, carbon dioxide removal and low-emissions industry has grown significantly, offsetting much of the decline in electric mobility investment. The report also highlights regional approaches to energy innovation, with China for example continuing to expand its footprint across corporate R&D and patenting, particularly in energy storage and industrial efficiency.

With shifting policy priorities and financial cutbacks, the report stresses that sustained and well-targeted public support remains critical, highlighting the transformative benefits brought about by energy innovation. Successful energy innovations can have major economic and social outcomes, impacting industrial competitiveness, trade, environmental health, infrastructure investment and security, the report notes. Aligning energy innovation strategies with broader competitiveness and resilience goals will be essential, particularly where technologies can strengthen domestic supply chains or reduce strategic dependencies. Ensuring access to funding across all stages of development – especially as private capital becomes more selective – and reinforcing partnerships across research, industry and finance will be key to maintaining momentum.

Seismic imaging example from the Laconia Phase I 12Hz E-TLFWI dataset in the US Gulf. (image courtesy of Viridien Earth Data).

Viridien, an advanced technology and digital solutions company, is collaborating with NVIDIA to transform seismic imaging workflows

The collaboration will combine NVIDIA HPC platforms and Viridien’s expertise in subsurface imaging technologies and HPC and Cloud solutions. It will optimise Viridien’s seismic imaging algorithms on NVIDIA accelerated computing platforms, integrating advanced techniques such as tensor cores and mixed-precision computing, to deliver continued improvements in system performance, imaging accuracy, and operational efficiency for energy and geoscience clients worldwide.

John Josephakis, VP of HPC and Supercomputing, NVIDIA, said, “By combining NVIDIA accelerated computing platforms and AI with Viridien’s expertise in seismic imaging and HPC, together we are enabling subsurface teams to deliver sharper, more reliable images faster and more cost-effectively. Better imaging reduces uncertainty, improves prospect screening and well placement decisions, and ultimately lowers the cost of exploration by cutting dry hole risk and minimising the time and compute required to reach decision-grade results.”

Anil Vattalai, SVP, HPC & Cloud Solutions, Viridien, added, “We are delighted to work with NVIDIA to accelerate the evolution of HPC for seismic imaging. Viridien is the industry leader in subsurface imaging based on our pioneering expertise in industrial and customised end-to-end HPC and over fifteen years of experience in optimising complex scientific workflows on GPU accelerators. This agreement underscores our commitment to continuously improving our full HPC stack (hardware, software, and algorithms) to deliver advanced HPC and cloud solutions that empower our clients to achieve greater performance and higher-quality outcomes more efficiently.”