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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Eni’s New Supercomputer is the Most Powerful Outside the US
Italian energy giant Eni is firing up the world’s most powerful supercomputer outside the US this Christmas as it races rivals to build the technology infrastructure needed to better explore for new sources of oil and gas.
The Supercomputer: HPC6
Built at a cost of more than €100mn, Eni’s new machine, HPC6, will be switched on in the small Italian town of Ferrera Erbognone, population 1,140. It contains almost 14,000 AMD graphics processing units: high-powered chips used to perform complex calculations and run artificial intelligence processes.
The Benchmark Speed
The supercomputer took fifth place in an annual list of the world’s fastest computers last month with a benchmark speed of 477 petaflops per second, behind three US research computers and Microsoft’s cloud-based Eagle computer.
The Job of the Supercomputer
Its job will be to crunch data to discover new oil and gas reservoirs, as well as to perform calculations to advance clean energy.
The Significance of Eni’s Supercomputing Division
Lorenzo Fiorillo, the head of Eni’s research and digital department, said the computer was almost nine times faster than its predecessor and that Eni was one of the few oil companies that has kept building its own machines, rather than switching to buying cloud computing services.
The Future of Oil and Gas Exploration
Rob West, an analyst at Thunder Said Energy, noted that Exxon, Shell, and Chevron had used supercomputers at the US National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Conclusion
Eni’s supercomputing division has helped the Italian company burnish its reputation for oil and gas exploration. With the new HPC6, Eni is poised to continue to dominate the field of oil and gas exploration, and to play a significant role in the development of clean energy.
FAQs
Q: What is the purpose of Eni’s new supercomputer, HPC6?
A: The purpose of HPC6 is to crunch data to discover new oil and gas reservoirs, as well as to perform calculations to advance clean energy.
Q: How powerful is Eni’s new supercomputer, HPC6?
A: HPC6 is the most powerful supercomputer outside the US, with a benchmark speed of 477 petaflops per second.
Q: What is the cost of Eni’s new supercomputer, HPC6?
A: The cost of HPC6 is more than €100mn.
