SLB, Liberty Energy tap AI boom with data center power deal
Oilfield services firms SLB and Liberty Energy are combining modular construction and gas-fired power to capture surging data center demand driven by artificial intelligence.
SLB and Liberty Energy announced a partnership on Tuesday to supply modular components and natural gas-fired power to data centers, targeting the massive infrastructure demands created by the artificial intelligence boom.
Under the agreement, SLB will design and supply the prefabricated structures that house the servers. Liberty will install the natural gas-fired power generation equipment required to operate the facilities. This division of labor allows the two companies to deliver fully integrated, plug-and-play power and space solutions to technology clients.
The financial scale of this pivot is becoming tangible. SLB has already shipped more than 1.3 GW of prefabricated modular data center infrastructure since April 2024. The company expects cumulative global deliveries to exceed 2 GW by the end of this year. Looking further ahead, Liberty plans to deploy approximately 3 GW of power projects by 2029.
For market professionals, the deal highlights a strategic repositioning within the oilfield services sector. Traditional energy contractors are increasingly leveraging their existing expertise in power equipment, turbines, and off-grid logistics to capture a share of the AI buildout. As utility grid connections face multi-year backlogs, gas-powered modular data centers offer technology companies a faster route to securing operational capacity.
SLB’s strategy extends beyond physical construction into the underlying technology stack. The company is already a design partner for modular AI data centers built on Nvidia technology. Furthermore, SLB is collaborating with the U.S. chip firm to develop a platform called AI Factory for Energy. This system is intended to help oil and gas producers, as well as power companies, apply artificial intelligence to vast troves of operational data.
The partnership also demonstrates a pragmatic evolution between two former business associates. SLB sold its North American hydraulic fracturing business to Liberty in 2020. Rather than competing solely in a volatile oilfield market, the two firms are now aligning their complementary capabilities to serve the high-growth digital infrastructure sector.
