超级计算机和高速互联网是运营油气田的关键

据今日石油网2020年6月5日报道，开发能源需要一个大的工具箱，它需要依靠详细的地质调查来发现石油和天然气，需要依靠高性能的钻井平台来进入储油层，最后，需要依靠可靠的运输原油或天然气的能力。美国石油巨头埃克森美孚公司日前表示，开发能源还需要依靠强大的超级计算机和高速互联网来成功运营他们的油气田。

在开始生产之前，地球科学家，工程师和计算机科学家首先要建立一个石油或天然气埋藏在地下深处储集层的数字模型。如今，随着越来越多的石油和天然气储藏在难以开采的地区，计算机演算法将提高安全运行和商业成功井的机会。

这些建立在大量数据之上的复杂模型需要花费大量时间来构建。但是埃克森美孚公司的一组科学家已经开发出了突破性的软件，能够在几分钟而不是几天内开发出模型。

这个里程碑是在伊利诺伊大学的国家超级计算应用中心实现的，该中心拥有世界上最强大的被称为“蓝色水域”的超级计算机之一。除了能源，这个平台还支持从物理学到火山研究等领域的先进研究。

埃克森美孚公司的研究项目涉及22000多台计算机，总共拥有70多万台处理器。这足够每秒进行1千万亿次计算。计算机的磁盘存储空间大到足以存储世界上所有图书馆的所有打印文件。

不过，这项成就并不仅仅在于原始的计算机能力，还在于巧妙地处理这些单独的机器以有效地相互联系并最终快速而准确地建立储层模型的能力。

这一突破将加快油气储量的开发，有助于满足世界对安全可靠能源日益增长的需求。

李峻 编译自 今日石油

原文如下：

Supercomputers, high-speed internet key to operating oil fields

Developing energy requires a big toolbox. It relies on detailed geological surveys to find the oil and gas, high-performance drilling platforms to access the reservoirs and, finally, the ability to transport the crude or natural gas responsibly. US oil major ExxonMobil has said energy companies also depend on powerful supercomputers to successfully operate their oil and gas fields.

Before initiating production, geoscientists, engineers, and computer scientists first build out a digital replica of the reservoirs where the oil or gas is buried deep beneath the ground. These days, with more and more oil and gas reserves stored in hard-to-access areas, computer algorithms increase the chance of operating safe and commercially successful wells.

These complex models, built on reams of data, take a lot of time to build. But a group of ExxonMobil scientists has developed breakthrough software that is able to develop the models in minutes rather than days.

This milestone was achieved at the University of Illinois’ National Center for Supercomputing Applications, home to one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, known as Blue Waters. In addition to energy, the platform supports advanced research in fields ranging from physics to the study of volcanoes.

The ExxonMobil research project involved more than 22,000 computers, which combined, held more than 700,000 processors. That’s enough computing power to perform 1 quadrillion calculations every second. The computer’s disk storage space is large enough to store all of the printed documents in all of the world’s libraries.

The achievement, though, isn’t just about raw computer power, but also the ability to finesse these individual machines to effectively communicate with one another and ultimately build the reservoir models quickly and accurately.

The breakthrough will speed up the development of oil and gas reserves that will help supply the world’s ever-expanding demand for safe and reliable energy.