Norway’s Oil and Gas Technology Strategy for the 21st century (OG21) awarded the OG21 Technology Champion prize to Bjørn Rudshaug (Equinor) and Karl Johnny Hersvik (AkerBP). 

Winners Hersvik (right), Rudshaug (middle), the minister Kjell-Børge Freiberg (left). Photo: Halfdan Carstens

To stimulate faster technology adoption and to honor individuals that have been instrumental in fast adoption of new technology, OG21 launches the “OG21 Technology Champion” award.

Bjørn Rudshaug, project manager in Equinor, is awarded the prize for his efforts and success with the development and broad implementation of Automatic Drilling Control. The technology enables the digitalization of the drilling process and integration with reservoir and geology models. ADC leads to faster drilling, better decisions, improved productivity, fewer human errors, reduced manning and better safety. The technology was first introduced on the Transocean Enabler rig in 2017, where it has yielded an efficiency improvement of more than 8%. Since then, it has been implemented on 5 more rigs, and more rigs are in line for implementation.

Karl Johnny Hersvik, CEO of AkerBP, is awarded the prize for having created a digitalization culture in the company he leads and for achieving significant efficiency improvements on the Ivar Aasen field as a result of digitalization. Hersvik was behind the establishment of Cognite, a new company that offers a data platform for various industries, and he is a driving force for the digitalization of the Norwegian petroleum industry.