BW Energy is to follow in the footsteps of BW Offshore Group and deploy IFS Applications. BW Offshore has been a customer for more than a decade. It spun out BW Energy in 2016, it still owns 35% of its shares. Now BW Energy is to deploy both the IFS ERP and EAM modules. These will support its growth, deliver efficiencies and help track and limit emissions.
BW Energy was founded as the E&P division of BW Offshore. It is now listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It’s a growth-focused oil and gas company involved in acquiring, developing, and producing proven oil and natural gas fields. BW Energy will also take advantage of the data replication module that IFS developed several years ago. It allows the company to ensure that data from offshore sites is replicated back for use by the onshore offices
BW Energy will leverage the IFS software to roll out improvements to processes for asset management, supply chain, human resources and finance.
Knut R. Sæthre, CFO, BW Energy, said: “We are focused on unlocking proven worldwide offshore oil and gas resources but utilising existing infrastructure that leads to lower development costs, faster project delivery and reduced carbon emissions. Supported by IFS technology, our strategy enables low-carbon field developments which support the ongoing transition.
“IFS’ oil and gas industry expertise is reflected in the rich and critical functionality of the software. Its ability to support multiple business activities, together with the ERP and EAM capabilities, helps us to meet our multiple goals quickly and efficiently while giving us the agility we need to navigate a rapidly changing market and regulatory environment.”
Focus on sustainability
As with every industry, BW Energy also has sustainability goals. The new solution can also help the company measure its sustainability metrics using the module first launched by IFS in October 2021. This will help BW Energy measure carbon emissions as it develops new oil fields. It can factor emissions into maintenance schedules in combination with ensuring those schedules are optimised to maintain assets efficiently.
The project will see BW Energy roll out IFS Applications across the US, Norway, Brazil, West Africa and Singapore. It intends to roll out the solution to other locations after this first phase. There will be more country sites to follow in the future.
What isn’t clear is whether BW Energy has deployed IFS Applications as a cloud-based solution which might have further reduced its carbon footprint. When IFS is deployed on Microsoft Azure, IFS estimates it is 52-79% more energy-efficient than a traditional data centre.
Elni Kullmer, Regional President for North and Central Europe, IFS, said: “We look forward to working with BW Energy to ensure their strategic vision is realised over the coming years. IFS solutions are designed to offer fast-growth companies like BW Energy an uncomplicated path towards becoming more data-driven and improving innovation.
“BW Energy is committed to developing oil and natural gas fields in a way that is efficient, low carbon and supports the energy transition, and we are proud to partner with them to help guide them on their journey.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
Another good win for IFS as it extends its reach into the Oil & Gas industry, especially in the Nordics. It has not seen similar success in the US. With BW Energy operating there, it might provide the customer advocacy that will help it break further into that market.
BW Energy, like its founding company, has chosen to move forward with IFS. It will be interesting to see whether it ends up deploying the solution to the cloud.
