Poll results: High costs, supply chain woes top subsea challenges
By Ariana Hurtado, Editor-in-Chief
Offshore recently surveyed 100 of its international readers to identify the most pressing challenges in subsea oil and gas production. High costs and supply chain constraints emerged as the dominant concern, cited by 40% of respondents. These issues reflect ongoing inflationary pressures and logistical complexities in global operations.
Regulatory compliance and permitting ranked second at 16%, underscoring the growing impact of environmental standards and regional policy requirements. Harsh environments and equipment reliability followed at 14%, highlighting the technical demands of operating in deepwater and ultradeepwater conditions.
Other notable challenges include construction vessel and crew availability (12%), flow assurance problems (11%), and HP/HT reservoir and production issues (7%).
Together, these findings illustrate the multifaceted nature of subsea development, where cost control, regulatory navigation and technical resilience remain critical to project success.
The results
| High Costs and Supply Chain Issues | 40% |
| Regulatory Compliance & Permitting | 16% |
| Harsh Environments & Equipment Reliability | 14% |
| Construction Vessel/Crew Availability | 12% |
| Flow Assurance Problems | 11% |
| HP/HT Reservoirs & Production Issues | 7% |
About the poll respondents
Offshore is a global resource for the offshore energy industry; thus, its readership and poll participants reflect that.
While the majority (35%) of this poll's respondents were from the US, the others hailed from Brazil, Great Britain, India, Belgium, China, Colombia, Spain, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Peru and Venezuela.
The majority (30.77%) of participants selected that they are with a consulting company engaged in projects or providing services to oil and/or gas companies. And 15.38% reported they are with an engineering company, while another 11.54% stated they are with a major oil and gas operating company.
While poll respondents remain anonymous, it can be shared that some of the participants are from Shell, Repsol, DOF and TotalEnergies, among many others.
The majority of respondents (30.77%) identified themselves as executive management. Another 26.92% identified as consultants, and 19.23% said they are in management.
This poll remained open on Offshore's website from Dec. 17, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026. During this time, it was routinely shared across Offshore's social media channels as well as featured in the Offshore Daily e-newsletter.
Exclusive content:
Check back in February for our 2026 Subsea Engineering Special Report!
About the Author
Ariana Hurtado
Editor-in-Chief
With more than a decade of copy editing, project management and journalism experience, Ariana Hurtado is a seasoned managing editor born and raised in the energy capital of the world—Houston, Texas. She currently serves as editor-in-chief of Offshore, overseeing the editorial team, its content and the brand's growth from a digital perspective.
Utilizing her editorial expertise, she manages digital media for the Offshore team. She also helps create and oversee new special industry reports and revolutionizes existing supplements, while also contributing content to Offshore's magazine, newsletters and website as a copy editor and writer.
Prior to her current role, she served as Offshore's editor and director of special reports from April 2022 to December 2024. Before joining Offshore, she served as senior managing editor of publications with Hart Energy. Prior to her nearly nine years with Hart, she worked on the copy desk as a news editor at the Houston Chronicle.
She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Houston.