Compiled by Ariana Hurtado, Editor-in-chief
This year more than 30,000 participants were estimated to attend the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) May 5-8 in Houston. The agenda included 53 technical sessions and more than 360 technical presentations.
In the following compilation, attendees, presenters and exhibitors shared their insights with Offshore about the future of the offshore energy sector, the energy transition, AI, safety and more at OTC this week.
The path forward for offshore energy
"Current challenges in the offshore energy industry include the need for sustainable practices, the impact of regulatory changes and the integration of new technologies to enhance compactness, efficiency and reliability. Solutions often revolve around innovation in renewable energy sources, such as wind, wave and solar, as well as advancements in subsea technology and digitalization to optimize operations. However, current alternative energy sources are insufficient to support local and global energy demands, especially with the increase in urbanization and industrialization. The path forward emphasizes collaboration among industry stakeholders, research and development investments, and a commitment to reducing carbon emissions while meeting global energy demands. The focus is increasingly on transitioning to a more sustainable energy model while ensuring the reliability and security of energy supply."
—Collins Bioseh, Segment Manager, Marine & Offshore and Renewables, Bosch Rexroth
Hägglunds Drives and Bosch Rexroth are exhibiting at booth 3219.
Advancing CCS offshore through partnerships
"This partnering thing is all about choosing the right partner for the right project at the right time, and we've been pretty intentional about about that and not haphazard. Different organizations all have different skills and capabilities. ...It's not secret sauce, but it's definitely proven to be a winning strategy for us."
—Alex Tiller, CEO, Carbonvert
Carbonvert CEO Alex Tiller led the "Carbon Capture and Storage: Pioneering the Future of Lower-Carbon Energy" keynote session on May 7. Check out Offshore's recap of his presentation: Carbonvert advancing CCS offshore through partnerships
Collaboration in the Gulf
“There needs to be an enhanced level of partnership on these types of projects, not only between operators of facilities and producers, but with suppliers as well. ... There needs to be more joint industry projects and more collaboration, while still allowing for competition.”
—Sada Iyer, General Manager Projects—Gulf of Mexico, Shell
Check out Offshore's recap of the May 6 "Subsea Tiebacks: Increase Production, Lower Costs and Carbon" panel discussion, which included Iyer, at: "Gulf operators make case for more subsea tiebacks."
A new paradigm in mooring
"Mooring integrity management is a rising hot topic in the offshore industry. After decades of equipment installation across the globe, aging systems are in an increasingly variable state of bad initial design, poorly maintained equipment and outlasting their original design life—opening the door to future risk in finding spare parts and knowledgeable field service help. In addition, life extension programs beyond the mooring systems’ design life are becoming a popular method of approaching finite investment resources. Companies need products that increase uptime and duty life while mitigating risk associated with aging mooring lines."
—Nick Atallah, Director of Product Development, Bardex (OTC exhibitor and sponsor)
To learn more, check out Atallah's recent thought leadership piece, "Four-step mooring integrity management process lowers lifetime costs."
Collaboration across the industry
“OTC continues to showcase the offshore sector’s resilience and evolution, particularly across the US market. Operators are navigating a complex landscape—balancing operational excellence with increasing demands for emissions control and sustainable performance. Advances in critical infrastructure, such as flow control, are enabling projects to drive greater reliability, efficiency and environmental integrity. At Oxford Flow, we’re seeing first-hand how targeted innovations can help offshore operators reduce emissions, strengthen asset performance and support broader energy transition goals. Collaboration across the industry has never been more important. OTC 2025 offers a vital platform to share insights, accelerate progress and shape the future of offshore energy together.”
—Fernando Arce-Larreta, Chief Commercial Officer, Oxford Flow
Oxford Flow is exhibiting at booth 1819.
Optimizing existing assets
"FPSOs are vital capital assets. As other energy sources, like LNG, become a central focus in the evolving energy landscape, the offshore sector must optimize existing assets. Traditional integrity methods just don't cut it anymore. Today's technology, leveraging digital twins, real-time data and AI, allows operators to do more with less and ensure cash flow, value capture and margin capture in tough economic environments with limited resources. Adopting these technologies will not only allow you to navigate, but to win in uncertain times."
—Dr. Claus Reimers, Chief Product & Technology Officer, Akselos (OTC attendee)
Cable supply chain evolving
"As floating wind projects push into deeper waters, the cable supply chain is evolving to meet the new demands. The optimal design solution combines longer lengths, higher voltages and robust construction to withstand the mechanical and electrical challenges of deepwater environments. Wet-design cables—qualified to 132 kV—meet these requirements and are available, proven and ready to be delivered for projects at scale. With demand accelerating, the supply chain is responding by investing in new facilities and manufacturing capacity to deliver the cable volumes these projects will need. This includes sites such as our new facility in Blyth, where long-length, high-voltage cable will be produced for floating wind applications."
—Robert Weeks, Chief Engineer, Energy, JDR Cable Systems
Weeks is scheduled to speak at the "Seafloor Assessment, Design and Installation Experience for Offshore Wind" OTC technical session in room 312 at 11:10 a.m. on May 8.
AI in offshore operations
"The offshore industry faces an increasingly uncertain and volatile world where timelines for planning and maintaining asset-intensive investments are usually measured in decades, but changes are happening daily. It becomes critical in this age of AI to rapidly adopt innovations in digitalization and machine learning to dynamically plan and take action. Naturally, success relies on cross-functional stakeholder buy-in of experienced intelligent solutions for capital projects, operation intelligence and asset management that optimizes output, drives efficiency, and enhances maintenance and risk management, which drives sustainable operational excellence."
—Tárik Siqueira, VP of Upstream, Midstream and Power, Radix, North America
The Radix team shared deep industry insights during the “Developing a Data-driven Operation Classifier and Stand Counter Tool to Improve Drilling Operations” technical session on May 5.
Need for collaboration and innovation
“We are no longer choosing between legacy and future; we are engineering the bridge between them. The offshore energy sector is not facing a reinvention but a convergence. The real challenge lies beyond integrating renewables or decarbonizing hydrocarbons—it’s about reimagining infrastructure, reshaping workforce capabilities and rethinking risk across global value chains. The path forward demands bold collaboration, faster innovation and a fundamentally more human-centric approach. The transition won’t wait, and the offshore sector must lead with vision, not just adaptation.”
—Tom Ayers, Vice President of Consulting, Kent
Kent participated in several OTC technical sessions and an e-poster session this week.
Electrifying wells
"Electrification isn’t merely a technological upgrade—it’s the redefinition of well design and management well production. Today, offshore production stands at a pivotal point. As we venture into deeper, more complex environments or toward satellite fields, we engineer wells that are smarter, safer, more efficient and adaptive to operational and environmental demands. Interval control valves, downhole sensors and advanced monitoring transform conventional wells into Wellbore Data Superhighways. This drives efficiencies, reduces emissions and boosts well performance. The future of offshore production is not just about going deeper and further—we are pushing the boundaries of innovation, collaboration and leadership toward the Future of Completions."
—Maxime Coffin, Vice President, Halliburton Completion Tools
Alan McLauchlan, Halliburton’s principal product champion, presented at the “Driving Efficiency and Innovation in Offshore Production Through Electrification” panel session on Monday, May 5.
Future of mooring systems
"Mooring system design and materials will continue to evolve, and the current focus on cost reduction for mooring systems for floating wind should lead to innovations that may influence the design of mooring systems for oil and gas production facilities. Offshore technology will continue to evolve as we focus on expanding our energy resources, and the expectation is that the use of AI and data should drive efficiencies, while creating value in all areas of offshore technology in the future."
—Dr. Arun Duggal, CEO, SOFEC (OTC Heritage Award winner)
This year's Heritage Award was presented to Dr. Duggal in recognition of his contributions to the offshore industry. Check out Offshore's exclusive Q&A interview with him at "SOFEC CEO earns Heritage Award, shares lessons learned over 30-year career."
All of the above energy mix
"The combination of solar and wind is really powerful and can deliver that growth [for electricity] for the upcoming decade," he added. "It will probably start to replace, step by step, some of the fossil fuels. This is already happening in Europe. You see that, in some countries, even gas is being replaced by offshore wind. So you see that this is changing quite rapidly, but still, every sort of energy is probably needed."
—Mark Heine, CEO, Fugro
Fugro CEO Mark Heine led the "All of the Above Energy Mix" session on May 5 and was later joined on stage by Celine Gerson, Fugro's group director Americas, for a fireside chat. Read Offshore's recap at "Fugro CEO says 'all the easy areas' are gone, need to move farther offshore."
Future of nuclear microreactors
"The offshore sector has long been a proving ground for technological innovation and is ready to serve as an early adopter of transformative technology that could reshape the global energy landscape. With microreactors offering clean, reliable power in compact, mobile packages, the future of offshore energy looks increasingly bright and decidedly nuclear."
—Matthew Palmer, Segment Director of Global Nuclear and Naval Submarines, Lloyd's Register (OTC sponsor)
Read more by Palmer at "Nuclear microreactors can transform offshore energy industry."
Develop, attract and retain talent
"As the offshore energy industry accelerates into a new era, driven by cleaner energy technologies and a global push for lower-carbon operations, the sector’s future has never been as bright. And it’s a future that is being built with innovation and skills. With that progress comes a powerful opportunity to redefine how the industry develops, attracts and retains the talent that will lead this transformation. Offshore operations demand individuals who can adapt to complex, high-risk environments and who understand the nuances of operating safely and effectively across diverse regions. The challenge is now to align skills with the evolving demands of a fast-moving, global industry in transition. However, this challenge provides an opportunity to rethink how we empower the offshore workforce, providing them with the skills and competence required to operate safely."
—Alex Spencer, COO, OPITO
Read more by Spencer at "Offshore energy industry has opportunity to redefine how it develops, attracts and retains talent."
Upping the oil and gas exploration budget
“We see Petrobras as one of the top 10 producers in the world, and one of the top 10 [energy] explorers in the world. ... We will be having 225,000 new barrels coming online this year. This is huge for our company, our country and the world.”
—Magda Chambriard, CEO, Petrobras
Chambriard led the keynote, "Setting the Scene in Brazil: An Anticipation of What Is Coming" on May 5. Check out Offshore's recap of the presentation at "Petrobras CEO outlines company’s aggressive E&P plans."
Tariffs could have cost impact
"When you see the Trump administration coming in with 'drill, baby, drill,' and firing off a slew of executive orders on January 20, those were, in many respects, designed to open up acreage, to open us (the country) up for investment and for leasing. There's a lot happening there to provide greater certainty, but the tension on the oil and gas side is with the tariffs. I was at a Rystad event last week, and they mentioned how the tariffs could have a cost impact offshore of over 17%. That's incredible, and that is not sustainable."
—Erik Milito, President, NOIA
