Eni Opens Supercomputing Capabilities to 'Innovation Ecosystem'

Eni Opens Supercomputing Capabilities to 'Innovation Ecosystem'·rigzone.com

This article was first published on Rigzone here

In a statement sent to Rigzone this week, Eni announced that it is opening up its supercomputing capabilities to the "innovation ecosystem".

"Eni is opening up its supercomputing infrastructure to companies, start-ups, and research centers, making its computational capacity, specialist expertise and advanced tools available to support the development of artificial intelligence solutions and digital innovation," the company said in the statement.

"The initiative comes at a time when digital infrastructure is playing an increasingly strategic role, becoming ever more central to industrial competitiveness and data sovereignty," it added.

Eni revealed in its statement that Domyn, Mercuria, Dompé, Almawave, Reply, and the Bruno Kessler Foundation are among the first companies and institutions to join the initiative. The company said other businesses, institutions, and research centers will be able to join the initiative over time through project proposals of mutual interest.

"Eni will provide access to its supercomputing capabilities through the provision of AI services, with the aim of developing and maximizing the value of infrastructure, data, and models securely, competitively, and in line with Italian and European industrial and Institutional interests, also supporting digital sovereignty," the company stated.

"The initiative will enable partners to develop and maximize the value of new artificial intelligence models, advanced simulations and projects with demanding computational requirements, benefiting from a faster time to market made possible by earlier access to this type of service," it added.

Eni outlined in its statement that, since 2013, the company has "developed and consolidated distinctive expertise in the design, operation and enhancement of digital infrastructure dedicated to high-performance computing" through its Green Data Center. Today, this center hosts the HPC6 and HPC7 supercomputers, Eni highlighted, adding that this combination "enables Eni to surpass Exascale-class performance, confirming the company as the industrial organization with the world's greatest supercomputing capacity".

Eni stated that its commitment to the development of digital infrastructure is also reflected in its partnership with Khazna Data Centers to develop a next-generation AI Data Center Campus. The company said that, alongside the development of its infrastructure, it has progressively built "distinctive expertise in supercomputing and artificial intelligence, applying it to its industrial processes and gradually making it available to the wider innovation ecosystem (e.g. through Call4Innovators)".

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"For Eni's businesses, having their own proprietary computing capacity is a highly strategic choice, combining cost efficiency, operational flexibility, protection of know-how and technological sovereignty," Eni noted in its statement.

"An infrastructure developed around the company's specific requirements makes it possible to optimize costs compared with external solutions, progressively extend the use of supercomputing to new technological and energy-related applications, and protect the algorithms, data and expertise that provide Eni with a distinctive competitive advantage," it added.

Eni Launches HPC7

In a statement posted on its website last month, Eni announced the launch of its HPC7 system, which it said ranks sixth overall in a new Top500 global ranking and is the world's most powerful High-Performance Computer for industrial use.

"HPC7 thus surpasses HPC6, launched in November 2024, which has in turn confirmed its position within the Top10, ranking eighth in the Top500 list," Eni noted.

In this statement, Eni said the combination of the HPC6 and HPC7 computing systems exceeds the Exascale threshold, adding that, together, HPC6 and HPC7 can deliver over one Exaflop/s (1 Exaflop/s = 1000 PFlops/s), which it pointed out is equivalent to more than one billion billion complex mathematical operations per second.

"The achievement of Exascale-class performance by Eni's supercomputing system represents the attainment of the most advanced and extraordinary technological frontier in the world of supercomputing and confirms the company's leadership in the sector," Eni said in the statement.

"The launch of HPC7 marks a key milestone in Eni's strategy to enhance energy resources and decarbonization, within a model where technology is a central element of innovation, capable of supporting growth, efficiency and competitiveness in both traditional and transition businesses," it added.

Eni noted in its statement that the HPC7 is based on an architecture leveraging the same technology that underpins the most powerful systems currently available in Europe and worldwide, "combining CPUs and GPUs in a hybrid configuration, with over 3,400 computing nodes and nearly 14,000 GPUs, to maximize computational performance and energy efficiency".

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said in the statement, "the transition toward energy from both traditional and renewable sources that is increasingly secure, accessible, and clean cannot take place without a profound technological evolution".

"The adoption of supercomputing and predictive technologies across all activities is essential for developing new energy solutions, reducing emissions, maximizing efficiency in exploration and production, and generating value," he added.

"In this context, the rapid development and commissioning of HPC7 - completed in an even shorter timeframe than HPC6, which was already a benchmark - represents a concrete example of our execution capabilities: the result of the expertise, commitment, and quality of our operational teams," he continued.

"This robust digital ecosystem, developed through talent, collaboration, and internal research, not only accelerates our path toward Net Zero, but also strengthens our strategic positioning and competitive advantage in the market," he went on to state.

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Aramco Supercomputer

In a statement posted on its website in May, Aramco announced that it and solutions by stc were collaborating to deploy a next-generation high-performance supercomputer "as part of Aramco's ongoing digital transformation efforts".

"The initiative aims to boost Aramco's upstream computing capabilities in hydrocarbon discovery and recovery and will be the largest deployment of computing infrastructure in Aramco's history," the company said in the statement.

"This collaboration marks a major leap in Aramco's digital transformation, positioning the company at the forefront of computational power in the energy sector," it added.

Aramco stated that the new supercomputer will serve as a critical enabler for Aramco's upstream operations, enabling advanced seismic data processing, and large-scale reservoir modeling and simulation.

"Designed to handle immense data volumes with high speed and precision, this powerful system will have seven times more compute capacity than is currently available for Aramco's upstream operations," Aramco noted.

"By significantly enhancing seismic imaging and reservoir simulation capabilities, the new supercomputer aims to redefine the speed and accuracy of hydrocarbon discovery and recovery, maximize recovery rates from existing fields across Saudi Arabia, and extend field longevity," it said.

Aramco revealed in the statement that the $372.5 million (SAR 1.4 bn) project is planned to be delivered by early 2027 and "is expected to be a cornerstone of Aramco's digital leadership in the global energy sector".

Abdul Hameed A. Al-Dughaither, Aramco Executive Vice President of EXPEC & Drilling, said in the statement, "Aramco's digital evolution is redefining what is possible for hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir management".

"With this next-generation supercomputer, being deployed through our strategic collaboration with solutions by stc, we aim to set a new standard in computational excellence," he added.

"This milestone underscores our focus on harnessing advanced technologies to drive performance by unlocking new reserves, optimizing recovery rates, and identifying new ways to capture value," he continued.

Omer Alnomany, solutions by stc Chief Executive Officer, said, "this collaboration represents a strategic step toward empowering the energy sector by leveraging the latest high-performance computing capabilities".

"It supports the acceleration of seismic data processing and improves the efficiency of exploration and production operations," Alnomany added.

"Through this partnership, solutions by stc continues to strengthen its role in developing advanced digital infrastructure that enhances operational reliability, supports digital transformation goals, and increases the operational value of the Kingdom's energy sector," Alnomany went on to state.

TotalEnergies Pangea 5

In a statement posted on its website in May, TotalEnergies, in collaboration with Dell Technologies and NVIDIA, announced the signing of a contract for the design and installation of Pangea 5, which it described as its next high-performance supercomputer.

"Hosted at the Jean Féger Scientific and Technical Center (CSTJF) in Pau, in the South of France, Pangea 5 will multiply the company's computing power by six", TotalEnergies said in the statement, revealing that the Pangea 5 represents an investment of over EUR 100 million ($113.8 million).

The company noted that, with this increase in processing speed, Pangea 5 will expand the deployment of advanced seismic engineering to enhance the accuracy of subsurface imaging and accelerate exploration to support the company's strategy for low-cost and low-emission hydrocarbon production. It will also support R&D uses of AI and meet growing digital needs to optimize computing times and deepen the understanding of complex phenomena like integrated power models, according to TotalEnergies.

The company said Pangea 5 will rely on specialized processors, capable of massively parallel computations, "offering greater energy efficiency than previous versions". It revealed that the supercomputer will be first commissioned in 2027.

"Artificial intelligence and digital technology are strategic drivers of our energy transition," Namita Shah, President, OneTech at TotalEnergies, said in the statement.

"By increasing our computing power sixfold, we are strengthening our leadership in high-performance computing ensuring that our experts teams continue to have the means to push the envelope to support the development of our activities and meet the growing global demand for energy," Shah added.

Adrian McDonald, President, Dell Technologies EMEA, said, "TotalEnergies is pushing the boundaries of high-performance computing, and we're delighted to be part of that journey".

"Pangea 5 will give TotalEnergies the computing power to accelerate discovery, increase efficiency and drive the energy transition forward – that's exactly the kind of outcome our collaboration is built for," McDonald added.

John Josephakis, Vice President HPC & AI at NVIDIA, said in the statement that "NVIDIA Compute, network and software platforms will provide Pangea 5 with exceptional parallel computing power, accelerating scientific workloads and opening new opportunities in artificial intelligence".

"With this choice of NVIDIA GPUs, CPUs and InfiniBand TotalEnergies is adopting an architecture capable of meeting the most demanding industrial and energy challenges, both today and in the years to come," he added.

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