Emerson deals for reservoir management firm

It’s all about automation, either on the plant floor or under the seabed. At least that is what Emerson Process Management thinks as it purchased Stavanger, Norway-based Roxar, a subsea reservoir management and production optimization company.

“Demand for oil and energy will continue to increase up to 45% by 2030,” said Steve Sonnenberg, president of Emerson, Monday during the OTC show in Houston. “With China and India, demand will continue to increase.”

In addition, Sonnenberg sees a big increase in offshore and subsea wells. “Time to first oil is key, and understanding the size of the reservoir is important,” Sonnenberg said. That is where Roxar comes in. They are able to understand and manage oil and gas reservoirs by adding subsea reservoir management and production optimization for exploration and production.

“This is about making predictive technology so users can make better decisions to manage reservoirs,” Sonnenberg said. “Process control is so important, so that is why it is important to get this right from the beginning.”

With oil companies, faster time to first oil means additional potential for more revenues.

“With Roxar coming in, we have the predictive intelligence all the way down to the reservoir,” said David Newman, director of E&P at Emerson.

For Roxar, which generated $200 million in revenues last year, the deal seems to be a continuation of the company’s culture.

“Their integration of data and decision-making tools agrees with what we do,” said Gunnar Hviding, president of Roxar. “We can leverage off [Emerson’s] Plant Web technology.”

“They bring us software and instruments we currently don’t have,” Sonnenberg said.

There is a trend, Sonnenberg said, toward bringing downstream process technology further upstream, and this is a perfect example. Other areas Sonnenberg said are starting to move upstream are predictive diagnostics and wireless technologies.

This deal is part of Emerson’s effort to create solutions that cover subsea oil and gas reservoirs to platforms and floating production to transmission and to refining and production of goods.

‑ Gregory Hale