Delft University of Technology and Shell seal a preferred partnership agreement

Today Shell and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) signed a preferred partnership agreement to strengthen the existing joint R&D programmes and to also further extend R&D collaboration.

Gerald Schotman, Chief Technology Officer, Royal Dutch Shell plc, stated at the signing ceremony at the Shell Technology Center in Rijswijk: “The 5 year agreement with TU Delft is a consequent next step in a long-lasting relationship between two strong drivers in the technology innovation space which resulted in numerous successful R&D projects and joint activities over the last 50 years. We are proud to have such a strong scientific partner at our side, helping us to build knowhow and create the technologies we need to solve the various challenges facing our industry in helping safeguard the world‟s energy supply.”

Karel Luyben, Rector TU Delft added: “I‟m very pleased to strengthen the ties with Shell as a global partner. We are a good match: Shell‟s challenges are in line with our long-term research interests and with important focus areas for research at TU Delft, such as energy and environment. Shell and TU Delft have a long and successful track record of collaboration, for example the joint Sustainable Mobility Programme, the Recovery Factory for enhanced oil recovery and projects in the areas of catalytic conversion, geo-engineering and seismology. TU Delft and Shell also collaborate on lifelong learning projects within the Shell Project Academy. The university is proud to be able to maintain and extend this excellent partnership under a new agreement.”

The agreement will move all the existing and future agreements under one overarching financial and IP arrangement with an overall contract value of several million Euros per year. A joint Supervisory Board and five joint Program Committees in R&D, Learning and HR will allow better integrated management of the collaboration activities, and the improved governance structure will also provide stronger strategic alignment.

The partnership will go beyond R&D activities but will also comprise a scientist exchange program to accelerate the progress in the joint projects and further cement the relationship. Shell will build on its group of five guest professors currently lecturing in Delft, and in return TU Delft will encourage scientists to conduct research projects at Shell. The agreement also foresees to intensify the support for learning activities. One example is the Shell Project Academy, which already today benefits from the expertise of the professors from TU Delft giving courses in this critical area of the Shell learning program.

Current joint R&D activities between Shell and TU Delft are focused around three areas: Geophysics and EOR, Fluid Flow & Materials and Process Technology. A recently announced substantial project is the Recovery Factory programme. This 6 year project aims at developing and innovative technology solutions to increase the amount of oil and gas that can be extracted from subsurface reservoirs by combining new technology with traditional methods.