The announcement came in response to a question posed by Rigzone at a Wood press conference, which was held during the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas.

During the press conference, Wood and IBM revealed that they had entered into a multi-year agreement to conceive and offer new digital products and services ‘that will advance operational efficiencies for customers in industrial and energy markets’.

The initial phase of the collaboration will focus on oil producers and utilities in three areas; project design and planning, asset insights, and project execution excellence.

Colin Smith, business development director for digital solutions at Wood, emphasized that the partnership was a non-exclusive collaboration and told Rigzone that both parties were able to work with other third parties.

In a press release provided at the event, the CEO of Wood Specialist Technical Solutions, Bob MacDonald, said the new collaboration would help unlock new insights.

“Building on Wood’s experience in asset development and innovation, this will dramatically advance, and differentiate, our digital skills,” MacDonald said in the release.

Wood provides project, engineering and technical services to the oil and gas sector, employing around 55,000 people in more than 400 offices around the world.

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