Industry

PipeSense deployed its PipeScan technology to locate obstructions in two offshore pipeline networks. (Image source: PipeSense)

Pipeline leak detection specialist PipeSense has expanded its capabilities to support offshore operations globally, following a successful project off the coast of Angola

Offshore and subsea pipeline operators undertake highly complex work every day to safely operate, maintain, and protect critical infrastructure in some of the world’s most challenging environments. This requires a continued focus on asset integrity, operational reliability, and the ability to identify and respond to changing pipeline conditions with confidence.

Working with a multinational oil and gas operator, PipeSense deployed PipeScan, its pressure-pulse technology, to monitor a 20-inch natural gas pipeline and a 16-inch offshore crude and multiphase pipeline that was flooded with seawater.

On the natural gas pipeline, PipeSense completed repeated pressure pulse testing to identify an obstruction approximately 11km downstream of the client's launch facility

For the second project, PipeSense installed instrumentation on both ends of the offshore crude and multiphase pipeline. Controlled pressure releases from both locations generated repeatable reflection signatures that identified the obstruction within approximately 700 m of the launcher, with a location accuracy of approximately ±30 m under field conditions.

The projects demonstrated how induced pressure pulse testing, high-speed pressure acquisition, and dynamic pressure wave reflection analysis can be used to accurately determine obstruction location in offshore environments, without interrupting normal pipeline operations or requiring specialised tracking tools.

Josh Holmes, PipeSense's VP of business development, commented, "This project is a clear and concise demonstration that our approach to obstruction locating can provide a practical addition to the pipeline integrity toolkit for locating stuck pigs, hydrate plugs, debris, and other flow restrictions across a wide range of offshore pipeline applications.

“Our goal is to support operators in that mission by providing advanced technologies that deliver greater visibility into pipeline performance and help teams make faster, more informed decisions.”

The company is now looking to roll out its technology in offshore and subsea environments globally, following the success in Angola. This could be good news for the Middle East, with major offshore developments planned and underway such as the UAE’s Umm Shaif Gas Cap, Aramco’s Zuluf increment and Kuwait’s development of its recent discoveries.

Dr Manar Al Moneef

Dr. Manar Al Moneef, scientist, capital architect and chief investment officer of NEOM shares learnings from twenty years of infrastructure investment in the Gulf

There is a common misconception about what makes large-scale infrastructure successful. Many assume success is determined when a project is announced, the business case is approved, or the financing is secured. In reality, the true test comes much later.

Every transformational project reaches moments when assumptions evolve, technologies advance, markets shift, and geopolitical realities change. The question is never whether circumstances will change — they always do. The question is whether the institution behind the project has the capability, discipline, and conviction to adapt while remaining committed to its long-term objective.

After more than twenty years working across infrastructure, energy, healthcare, investment, and economic development, I have come to believe that the greatest determinant of success is not the original forecast, the technology, or even the market opportunity. It is the strength of the institution behind the capital.

Projects that create lasting economic value rarely unfold exactly as planned. They succeed because they are supported by institutions capable of learning, adjusting, and continuing to execute without losing sight of their strategic destination.

That distinction matters because the Gulf’s development story is often misunderstood.

The region’s greatest achievement is not that it has launched ambitious projects. Many countries can do that. Its real achievement is building institutions capable of sustaining long-term ambition through economic cycles, technological transformation, and periods of global uncertainty.

The institutions behind long-term success

Much of the discussion around sovereign investment focuses on scale. While the Gulf’s sovereign institutions collectively manage trillions of dollars, scale alone does not explain the region’s ability to deliver transformational infrastructure. What differentiates successful institutions is their ability to think beyond market cycles while continuously creating long-term value. In my experience, three characteristics consistently distinguish institutions that endure:

Strategic clarity. Successful institutions maintain a clear long-term direction while remaining flexible in execution. Markets evolve, technologies improve, and priorities shift, but adapting the route does not require abandoning the destination.

Adaptive execution. Every major project evolves. New information emerges, better solutions become available, and economic conditions change. Strong institutions embrace these changes, improving execution without compromising strategic intent. Adaptability is not a departure from strategy—it is often what allows strategy to succeed.

Institutional commitment. Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic is the ability to sustain commitment over decades. Projects evolve, plans are refined, and priorities are reassessed, but the broader objective remains clear. That continuity enables infrastructure, industries, and capabilities whose value can only be realised over generations.
Together, these characteristics transform ambition into sustained execution.

Three examples of long-term execution

Across the Gulf, there are many examples of institutions demonstrating these principles.

Qatar’s North Field expansion provides a compelling example. The project required significant capital, long-term planning, and confidence in the future role of natural gas in global energy markets. More importantly, it required institutions willing to make decisions based on decades rather than quarterly performance.

Saudi Arabia’s electricity infrastructure is one of the strongest. Over several decades, the Kingdom has consistently invested in generation, transmission, and grid reliability to support industrialisation, urbanisation, and economic diversification. As demand increased and technologies advanced, the system continued to evolve. Today, it stands among the region’s most sophisticated power networks, providing the foundation for future economic growth.

The UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant reflects the same institutional discipline. Building a nuclear programme required decades of planning, rigorous governance, technical excellence, and sustained commitment. Beyond generating electricity, Barakah demonstrates what institutions can achieve when they remain focused on a strategic objective while successfully managing complexity and risk.

Different countries. Different sectors. Different technologies. Yet they share the same underlying principle: long-term vision supported by institutions capable of sustained execution.
Vision creates direction. Institutions transform that direction into outcomes.

What this moment is teaching us

The world is navigating one of the most complex periods in recent history. Economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, technological disruption, demographic change, and rapidly evolving industries are reshaping the global economy.

In this environment, resilience has become one of the most valuable institutional capabilities. Not resilience as resistance to change. Resilience as the ability to adapt while maintaining direction.

The institutions that will define the next generation of economic growth are not those that attempt to predict every outcome perfectly. They are those capable of remaining disciplined in purpose, flexible in execution, and committed to creating long-term value despite uncertainty.

That is the lesson I have observed throughout my career.

Markets will change. Technologies will evolve. Assumptions will be challenged. The future will rarely unfold exactly as expected. But institutions built on strong governance, strategic clarity, and the ability to adapt without losing focus will continue to create value long after individual market cycles have passed.

Ultimately, the question is not whether projects will encounter challenges. Every meaningful project does. The question is whether the institution behind it has been designed to adapt, endure, and continue building through change.

Because that is how transformative infrastructure is delivered. That is how economies strengthen their foundations. And that is how nations turn long-term ambition into lasting prosperity.

Continued disruption in the Strait of Hormuz continues to weigh on the oil markets. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

The IEA has revised down both its oil supply and demand forecasts as renewed hostilities and Strait of Hormuz disruption have derailed the hoped for recovery in the oil markets

In its August Oil Market report, the IEA forecasts that world oil demand will decline by 1.6mn bpd in 2026, 510,000 bpd more than its previous forecast, thanks to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and continuing high oil prices, although it predicts a return to growth in Q4 2026 and 2027.

Global oil supply rose by 2.4mn bpd to 101.5mn bpd in July, but remained 6.3mn bpd below levels of a year ago, with 8.3mn bpd of Gulf output still shut in. After increasing by 3.7mn bpd in June, Gulf oil production rose by a further 2.5 mn bpd in July to 23.9mn bpd, still 8.3mn bpd below pre-war levels. Regional exports fell by 2.1mn bpd to 15 mn bpd after the Strait was effectively closed once again and tankers came under attack. With no end to hostilities in sight, the IEA now estimates global oil supply to fall by 4.3 mn bpd in 2026, to 102 mn bpd, as growth of 1.4 mn bpd from the Americas only partly offsets losses in the Middle East and Russia.

Refinery crude throughputs increased in July but remained nearly 5mn bpd below last year’s levels, with continued Middle East product export disruptions and attacks on Russian refineries reducing 3Q run estimates by a further 370,000 bpd. Global throughput is now predicted to decline by 2.5mn bpd in 2026 and rebound by 3.5mn bpd in 2027. Diesel, jet fuel and gasoline markets are tightened as reduced Gulf and Russian exports coincide with rising summer travel demand.

Global oil inventories fell in July by 69mn bbl, with renewed disruption to exports from the Gulf and Caspian Sea. Oil stocks now stand at just below 7.9 bbl bbl, down by 2.7mn bpd on average, for the first time since April 2025.

The global oil balance is now expected to show a deficit of 1.8 mn bpd in 3Q26, more than double the estimate of around 800,000 bpd in last month’s Oil Market Report.

“Although the market is projected to return to surplus towards the end of this year, risks remain substantial and the urgency of reopening the Strait has increased, as previously available inventory buffers are rapidly depleting,” the IEA warns.

Baker Hughes will leverage its portfolio of digital and AI automation solutions. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has signed a further technology collaboration contract related to its Ahmadi Innovation Valley initiative as it seeks to enhance upstream performance through the introduction of the most advanced technologies

Kuwait’s national oil company has signed a multi-year contract with Baker Hughes to accelerate technology innovation in the country’s upstream energy sector. It makes Baker Hughes a key technology collaborator in the Ahmadi Innovation Valley (AIV), KOC’s flagship initiative aimed at establishing an in-country research and innovation hub to address its strategic oil and gas development priorities, bringing together industry academic and technology providers to address upstream technical challenges.

Scalable technology solutions

Through the collaboration, Baker Hughes and KOC will focus on developing and deploying scalable, fit-for-purpose technology solutions that optimise production and flow assurance, while addressing other priorities across KOC’s technology roadmap. Baker Hughes will leverage its portfolio of digital and AI automation solutions that help operators increase recovery from existing wells, lower operating costs, reduce water production and minimise power consumption.

“Baker Hughes is committed to deeply understanding KOC’s development aspirations and providing the solutions needed to help achieve them,” said Baker Hughes Chairman and chief executive officer Lorenzo Simonelli. “Working together, we aim to deliver tailored technology solutions at scale that improve production performance and efficiency, supporting KOC’s goals to maximise value from their assets.”

As part of the agreement, Baker Hughes will build a dedicated research and technology development centre in the Ahmadi Innovation Valley to support the evaluation of new solutions, deliver technology solutions at scale and build local expertise.

It comes after KOC’s signing of a seven-year contract with SLB in June, which will see SLB establish a dedicated AIV facility and support applied research, technology deployment and digital innovation programmes focusing on AI, IIoT applications, production optimisation, reservoir technologies, water management and energy transition initiatives. That was followed by a contract with Halliburton in July which will see Halliburton deploy key technologies to execute a tailored programme of projects and engineered solutions with a focus on digital capabilities through the application of data, scientific analysis, and artificial intelligence for the full field lifecycle.

Shift to collaborative arrangements

These arrangements mark a shift from traditional field services to collaboration and co-creation of technology and innovation. They reflect KOC’s focus on innovation and scaling digital solutions, as it seeks to lift crude oil production capacity to 4mn bpd by 2035, positioning the centre as a platform for applied research and upstream technology development.