A common electronic product catalogue for the Norwegian offshore sector is under development by Statoil and nine other companies.
This eOil solution will contain information on suppliers and the goods and services they can offer to operators.
The aim is to contribute to closer cooperation between players off Norway, according to Peter Tronslin, vice president for corporate procurement and industry relations.
At the same time, the catalogue will be made available to the industry on a global basis. This could open substantial opportunities for Norway's supplies industry.
The seven operators collaborating on eOil are Norsk Hydro, BP Amoco. ElfTotalFina, ExxonMobil, Shell and Phillips Petroleum as well as Statoil. Contractors Umoe, ABB and Aker Maritime are also participating.
Support is being provided for the project by Anderson Consulting.
Underlying the joint eOil venture is the expected development of business-to-business e-commerce, explains Mr Tronslin,
This is expected to achieve major cost savings for both operator and supplier, particularly in procurement and invoice handling.
Plans call for a pilot version of the electronic product catalogue to be ready by August. A gradual build-up of product groups and catalogue functionality will follow in the rest of 2000 and beyond.