Global energy technology company SLB has entered into a strategic partnership with Liberty Energy to provide modular infrastructure and power solutions for data centres, as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) computing capacity continues to accelerate.
The collaboration, announced on Tuesday, will combine the strengths of both companies to deliver integrated solutions for data centre projects. Under the agreement, SLB will design and supply modular and prefabricated infrastructure components, while Liberty Energy will provide natural gas-fired power generation to support the facilities.
The partnership underscores a growing trend among oilfield service companies to diversify beyond traditional energy operations by investing in technologies and infrastructure that support the rapidly expanding AI sector.
As hyperscale data centres require reliable and scalable power supplies, companies with expertise in energy infrastructure are increasingly positioning themselves to meet the industry's evolving needs.
SLB has already established itself in the AI infrastructure space as a design partner for modular AI data centres built on Nvidia technology. The company is also collaborating with the U.S. chipmaker to develop the AI Factory for Energy, a platform designed to help oil and gas producers and power companies harness artificial intelligence to analyse vast amounts of operational data and improve efficiency.
The company said it has shipped more than 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of prefabricated modular data centre infrastructure since April 2024 and expects cumulative global deliveries to surpass 2 GW by the end of the year.
Liberty Energy, on its part, plans to deploy approximately 3 GW of power generation projects by 2029, strengthening its capacity to support the growing electricity demands of AI-driven data centres.
The latest partnership also builds on an existing relationship between the two companies. In 2020, SLB divested its North American hydraulic fracturing business to Liberty Energy, a transaction that marked a significant shift in both companies' strategic direction.
With global investment in artificial intelligence continuing to drive unprecedented demand for computing infrastructure, the alliance positions both SLB and Liberty Energy to capitalise on emerging opportunities at the intersection of energy, technology, and digital infrastructure.