Why quantum computing remains in early stages in the O&G industry

Although quantum computing, or quantum processing, has still not become a reality in the oil and gas industry, it will prove disruptive, according to an executive of a Brazilian player.

In quantum computers, atomic and subatomic particles are used to store and process data, replacing transistors and semi-processors of traditional computers.

That creates the potential to carry out complex analyses in seconds for which traditional devices would need years. This power could be used for more predictive modeling in the oil and gas industry, faster field analysis and more efficient carbon capture. But many challenges remain.

“In terms of the value of information, there is a lot to be done. The quantum computer has not become a reality. It is not yet a commodity, accessible to everybody. We think it will be a disruptive sector to democratize all the sectors, especially oil and gas,” said Tamara Garcia, R&D manager of Repsol Sinopec Brasil, at a digital transformation event organized by the World Petroleum Council (WPC) and Brazilian oil association IBP.

In late 2019, Repsol Sinopec launched in Brazil AIRIS, or Artificial Intelligence RSB Integrated System. This 27mn-real (US$5.22mn) supercomputer, or high processing capacity (HPC) computer, was  developed in partnership with the Supercomputing Center for Industrial Innovation (CS2I) of Brazil’s industrial apprenticeship agency Senai.

Other examples of HPC devices in use are Petrobras’ Dragão, Atlas and Fenix, reportedly the most powerful supercomputers in operation in Latin America. 

AIRIS has processing capacity of 800 teraflops, meaning it can run 800tn operations per second, equivalent to 5,000 ordinary PCs. But quantum computers work at exponentially higher capacity.

"Freed from the constraints of classical computers’ 0s or 1s, quantum computing’s qubits can hold more complex information using a physical process that can deliver optimal results faster," consultancy Accenture wrote in a report.

"Quantum computing is the physicist's dream and the engineer’s nightmare."

COMPLEX DEVELOPMENT

According to a GlobalData report from May on quantum computing in the oil and gas industry, quantum units are extremely difficult to build and commercial quantum computers will not be available for decades.

“However, within the next five to seven years, intermediate quantum computers are likely to become available that can offer a quantum advantage over classical computers in certain optimization applications across, for example, space warfare, logistics, drug discovery, and options trading,” GlobalData said.

In the oil and gas industry, the units could prove highly valuable to reduce operational costs and risks, run powerful simulations, and help curbing emissions.

Among players embracing quantum processing to date are ExxonMobil, Total, Shell and BP, according to GlobalData. 

IBM is standing out as provider, but energy firms are also relying on D-Wave, Microsoft and Atos. The latter, a specialist also in HPC equipment, is the provider of Petrobras’ supercomputers, for example.

In 2019, ExxonMobil became the first energy company to join the IBM Quantum Network, a global initiative involving companies, startups, academic institutions and national research laboratories to advance quantum computing and explore practical applications for science and business.

Hurdles include the difficulty of engineering quantum devices. Quantum computing requires highly specialized expertise combining physics, chemistry and computing, which is not widely available for energy companies. 

Claudio Makarovsky, director of energy industries at Microsoft Brasil, said during the event that the scarcity of skills was a chief constraint involving the adoption of new technologies. 

Repsol Sinopec's Garcia, in turn, said constraints are mostly related to “commercial services, to availability.”

Microsoft is ahead with the Azure Quantum, a full-stack, open cloud global ecosystem having as partners 1QBit, Honeywell, IonQ, and QCI to assemble solutions, software and hardware across the industry via Azure cloud. The initiative also aims to promote quantum development.

PROMOTING THE ECOSYSTEM

To advance quantum computing development in Brazil, six scholars from Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) launched this year the Quantum Information Technologies (QuInTec) initiative.

It aims to bring together companies and researchers to work on real case applications. At least 30 researchers are working on quantum technologies in São Paulo.

QuInTec has already received support from IBM, Microsoft, Petrobras and Brazilian agricultural research firm Embrapa. 

Still, quantum computing is not yet on Petrobras’ short-term horizon, which focuses on other technologies.

At the event, Marcia Tosta, information security manager at Petrobras, presented the digital twins technology, AI, wearables, 5G and cybersecurity as the main fields of interest.

Tosta also said blockchain "has great potential to reduce supply chain complaints and accelerate conflict resolutions."

Meanwhile, Petrobras' CIO Marcelo Carreras highlighted at a separate event promoted by VMware and Intel that the company focuses on being “cloud-first.” That means most of Petrobras' new developments are already implemented through the cloud, but without losing data and operational control.

Petrobras is one of VMware's application virtualization customers.