KBR and IBM Partner for Digital Solutions for Hydrocarbons Industry

HOUSTON and ARMONK, N.Y., May 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced they have entered an agreement to collaborate on the development of digital products and services to help oil and gas and petrochemical customers reduce costs and increase profit, reliability and safety.

Falling crude prices, volatile socio-economic and political environments and ever-increasing demands for sustainability and safety are disrupting the industry. Chemical and petroleum organizations require new levels of innovation and digital solutions to improve and enhance exploration and production, promote project capital and execution efficiency, and optimize operations, maintenance and safety.

"As chemical and petroleum companies strive to remain competitive, implementing a digital strategy will help optimize capital expenditures, reduce operating costs and help maximize the potential of the knowledge and skills of their people," said Luq Niazi, IBM Global Managing Director, Chemical & Petroleum Industries. "Working with KBR, we will deliver analytics and cognitive solutions that diagnose, compare and enhance the production and operational activities of chemicals and petroleum assets."

The agreement joins KBR's deep understanding of the hydrocarbons market (upstream, midstream and downstream) and large-scale capital projects, with IBM's solutions including cloud computing, advanced analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), and cognitive business solutions. Customers' historical and real time data along with KBR's technical and engineering expertise coupled with IBM's technology platform will support better decision-making and more effective monitoring and maintenance of operations.

This next generation of digital solutions will empower customers worldwide by helping them in lowering capex and opex costs, enhancing operational efficiency, reducing delivery schedules, boosting facility uptime and improving plant safety.

"We are proud to team with IBM to provide digital solutions that address the industry's biggest challenges and needs, allowing us to add value for our customers," said Graham Hill, KBR Executive Vice President, Global Business Development & Strategy. "This alliance combines the complementary skill-sets, know-how and intellectual properties of two leading hydrocarbons and technology companies."

About KBR, Inc.

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Government Services and Hydrocarbons sectors. KBR employs over 34,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses:

• Government Services, serving government customers globally, including capabilities that cover the full life-cycle of defense, space, aviation and other government programs and missions from research and development, through systems engineering, test and evaluation, program management, to operations, maintenance, and field logistics
• Technology & Consulting, including proprietary technology focused on the monetization of hydrocarbons (especially natural gas and natural gas liquids) in ethylene and petrochemicals; ammonia, nitric acid and fertilizers; oil refining; gasification; oil and gas consulting; integrity management; naval architecture and proprietary hulls; and downstream consulting
• Engineering & Construction, including onshore oil and gas; LNG (liquefaction and regasification)/GTL; oil refining; petrochemicals; chemicals; fertilizers; differentiated EPC; maintenance services (Brown & Root Industrial Services); offshore oil and gas (shallow-water, deep-water, subsea); floating solutions (FPU, FPSO, FLNG & FSRU) and program management

KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, integrated EPC delivery and long-term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver.

Contact(s) information

Jeannine Kilbride
IBM Media Relations
1 (860) 997-6277
[email protected]

Marit Babin Stout
KBR Media Relations
713-753-3800
[email protected]

SOURCE IBM