Eni launches world's biggest industrial supercomputer

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian oil and gas group Eni said on Thursday it had installed new capacity at its supercomputing centre near Milan to create the world’s most powerful industrial computer.

The new capacity quadruples the group’s computing power, allowing it to process up to 22.4 quadrillion operations per second, the company said.

“In our industry it is increasingly important to be able to process ever-increasing amounts of data, ensuring more accurate and faster results,” Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said.

The state-controlled firm has invested heavily in high-powered computing to give it an edge over rivals in exploration and get its resources to market faster.

After giant gas discoveries in Mozambique and Egypt, it has one of the industry’s best discovery track records in recent years.

In December, it said it had produced first gas from its Egyptian supergiant Zohr field in just two and a half years, a record time for this type of field.