Microsoft, in new partnership with Halliburton, wants to transform the oil and gas industry

Microsoft and Halliburton today detailed plans for a strategic alliance which will help drive digital transformation across the oil and gas industry. Under the relationship, Microsoft’s leading cloud and digital services will be combined with Halliburton’s science, software, and services.

According to Microsoft, one of the steps in the alliance involves both companies “leveraging and optimizing Microsoft technologies in machine learning, augmented reality (AR), user interactions and Industrial Internet of Things, as well as Azure’s high-performant infrastructure and built-in computing capabilities.” The end result will “deliver tightly integrated solutions across the energy value chain.”

Here is what Microsoft is saying about the alliance:

Areas of collaboration include applying deep learning to reservoir characterization, modeling and simulation, building domain-specific visualization for mixed reality, creating highly interactive applications, and fueling the digitalization of E&P assets. As a first step in the alliance, Halliburton has made DecisionSpace 365 available on Azure, enabling real-time data streaming from IoT edge devices in oilfields and the ability to apply deep-learning models to optimize drilling and production to lower costs for customers.

Azure will also become Halliburton’s preferred public cloud provider for iEnergy as part of the partnership. Microsoft is also saying that with this partnership, both companies will be allowed to apply voice and image recognition, video processing and AR/Virtual Reality to create a digital representation of a physical asset using Microsoft’s HoloLens and Surface devices.