Global energy technology company SLB has announced an expanded collaboration with Norwegian operator Vår Energi to scale digital well planning and integrated field development across operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, aiming to accelerate decision-making and improve efficiency in mature offshore assets.
Under the expanded agreement, Vår Energi will deploy SLB’s Delfi™ digital platform to connect the full upstream value chain, including exploration, subsurface evaluation, well planning, subsea engineering, field development planning, and production, within a unified cloud-native environment. The system enables multiple disciplines to work simultaneously on shared datasets and standardized workflows, reducing fragmented processes, minimizing rework, and improving coordination between teams.
According to SLB, earlier deployments of collaborative well planning tools have already reduced planning cycle times from several months to just days, while integrated field development planning is expected to deliver similar gains. The companies noted that validation efforts have demonstrated reductions in planning cycles from months to weeks, indicating measurable scalability of the digital approach across broader operations.
SLB executives emphasized that as offshore developments become increasingly complex, competitive performance depends on faster alignment between technical teams and more reliable data-driven decisions. By integrating workflows in a single digital ecosystem, operators can evaluate development options more quickly, including marginal subsea tiebacks, while maintaining consistency across disciplines.
The collaboration reflects a wider industry shift toward cloud-based, integrated planning systems designed to shorten the time between exploration and development milestones, improve operational coordination, and maximize recovery from mature basins while managing rising subsurface and engineering complexity.