Total to use IBM’s Supercomputer for Operations

Total, a France-based petroleum refining company, will use IBM’s supercomputer to boost its operations.

By deploying the world’s most powerful commercial supercomputer based on IBM POWER9 processor, IBM will help Total to locate fresh resources precisely and evaluate potential associated revenue prospects.

The IBM POWER9 ranks 11 on the TOP500 list.

While exploring new oil and gas opportunities, Total has to portray a clear description of what lies underground, by using seismic data acquisition during exploration campaigns. The ground images are used by geoscientists to spot oil and gas in a certain area. The process involves the creation of huge amounts of data that IBM POWER9 systems can handle with industry-exclusive technology seamlessly.

Total picked up IBM in a bidding process involving other companies. The main reason for choosing IBM is that it has an industry-leading approach to GPU-accelerated computing.  IBM teamed up with NVIDIA to build NVIDIA NVLink connection, the industry’s only CPU-to-GPU approach. The connection has paved the way for fastening band with by 5.6x times between the IBM POWER9 CPU and NVIDIA Tesla V100 Tensor Core GPUs than the compared x86-based systems.

The technique will assist Total in the processing of a big amount of data involved in seismic modeling; getting more accurate insights faster than they previously could.

This is the first time when IBM and Total have inked a deal with each other. The new partnership will definitely help Total to boost their operations.