The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Deloitte’s oil and gas division have created a strategic partnership to deliver advanced risk-management services to the oil and gas industry.

Through the Space Act Agreement, launched on June 27, NASA and Deloitte will offer a range of capabilities in risk-sciences arena.  These will include ‘risk modelling and simulation’ which could help oil and gas companies ‘eliminate blind spots’ and reduce uncertainties in engineering and operational  decision making, in the same way that NASA has done in its human spaceflight programmes.

NASA also aims to gain knowledge that will help it to prepare for future missions and to enhance current safety and risk mitigation technologies.

The new Space Act Agreement package will include several operational risk-management approaches aimed at companies seeking to minimise the risk of catastrophic failures.

Patrick Phelan, Managing Director of Aquaterra Energy, believes that NASA is an obvious match for the oil and gas industry, with its unrivalled expertise in innovation and risk management for highly volatile environments.  He said: “This is an exciting partnership and one which we hope the oil and gas supply chain will benefit from through knowledge transfer and engagement.”