British Petroleum (BP) announced on Wednesday it has more than doubled the total computing power of its Center for High-Performance Computing (CHPC) in Houston in the U.S. state of Texas, making it the most powerful supercomputer in the world for commercial research.
According to a press release by BP, the Center for High-Performance Computing provides critical support to BP's upstream business segment, where it serves as the worldwide hub for research computing. BP's computer scientists and mathematicians at the CHPC have enabled industry breakthroughs in advanced seismic imaging and rock physics research to help with reservoir modelling.
BP's downstream business also is using the supercomputer for fluid dynamic research to study hydrocarbon flows at refineries and pipelines to improve operational safety.
The recent upgrade has boosted the processing speed of BP's supercomputer from four petaflops to nine petaflops. Since the CHPC opened in 2013, BP has quadrupled its computing power and doubled its storage capacity and plans to continue expanding its computing capability in 2018.
Houston is home to BP's U.S. headquarters, and it also represents the company's largest employee base anywhere in the world.
BP is a global producer of oil and gas with operations in over 70 countries. Over the past 10 years, BP has invested 90 billion U.S. dollars in the United States - more than any other energy company.
