Quantinuum and BP Collaborate on Quantum Project for Subsurface Mapping

Quantinuum and BP have launched a new quantum computing project to improve how the energy sector maps the Earth's subsurface for oil and gas exploration, announced in a press release.

The project builds on a pilot that demonstrated the feasibility of using quantum computing for seismic imaging, one of the most computationally intensive tasks in the energy industry. The companies are now scaling their approach to simulate more complex subsurface properties.

According to Quantinuum, quantum computing can potentially deliver higher fidelity data with lower computational costs compared to classical methods. While classical systems require computational resources to scale with spatial resolution, a quantum computer could theoretically achieve similar improvements with only a small increase in qubits.

The collaboration explores hybrid quantum and classical approaches, where quantum processors handle demanding calculations and classical systems manage data logic. This combination aims to reduce energy consumption and accelerate seismic simulation timelines.