Oil rig out at sea.

Strategic Alliance strengthens energy research

Reference: 08/27

Research into oil and gas exploration and production and wider energy technologies has received a funding boost following the signing of a Strategic Alliance Agreement between CSIRO and Petronas, the national petroleum company of Malaysia.

• 13 February 2008

The Agreement further builds on the long relationship between the two organisations and formalises collaborative activities, including petroleum exploration and production, advanced materials, clean coal technology and renewable energy.

“There is alignment between Petronas’ research and CSIRO’s National Research Flagships and it is positive to see that their aspirations are closely linked to ours,” says Dr Bev Ronalds, CSIRO Group Executive for Energy.

“Improving petroleum exploration and production efficiency remains a focus for Petronas, and a number of CSIRO projects will help them to address these challenges. Petronas is also interested in exploring new opportunities in clean energy, particularly solar and clean coal technologies.”

CSIRO’s capabilities in advanced materials is also of interest to Petronas, with technology in nanocomposites, biodegradable polymers and reinforced plastics being applied to their current business practices to repair pipelines and improve durability of infrastructure.

“Advanced materials is a very exciting area of research and its application to the petroleum industry will have enormous benefit,” says Dr Ronalds.

The Agreement also identifies a number of areas of potential collaboration with the University of Technology of Petronas including training and development, co-supervision of post-graduate students, sharing of facilities and research.

A number of the collaborative projects form part of the new Australian Gas Centre (AusGas) initiative developed by CSIRO with the WA Energy Research Alliance (WA ERA). The AusGas proposal was met with a positive response by Petronas and discussions will continue on areas of partnership in gas research.

National Research Flagships 

CSIRO initiated the National Research Flagships to provide science-based solutions in response to Australia’s major research challenges and opportunities. The nine Flagships form multidisciplinary teams with industry and the research community to deliver impact and benefits for Australia.

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