Hardware

How High-Performance Computing Helps Energy Companies [#Infographic]

Energy firms need to be more efficient than ever, and high-performance computing enables them to be more precise and yield better results.

Phil Goldstein

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Phil Goldstein is a former web editor of the CDW family of tech magazines and a veteran technology journalist. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and their animals: a dog named Brenna, and two cats, Grady and Princess.

As oil prices continue to be low, energy firms need to double down on technology to ensure that their operations are as cost-efficient as possible. High-performance computing (HPC), which the oil and gas industry has invested in significantly over the last 15 years, allows energy companies to improve their operations and save them time and money in the process.

Energy companies can leverage HPC data centers to sift through petabytes of data related to complex exploration operations around the world. Indeed, according to Meike Chabowski, product marketing manager for enterprise Linux servers at open-source software firm SUSE, around 10 terabytes of data are produced for a single analysis to locate a subsea oil reservoir.

HPC helps energy firms visualize all of that data, and it can enable technologies like 3D seismic imaging that can improve success rates for oil and gas exploration. HPC can also support advanced sensors and data analytics for energy companies, which in turn can lead to increased production and lower capital and operating costs.

Check out the infographic below for more insights into the benefits of high-performance computing for energy firms.