Partnering with the Energy Industry to Sustain and Innovate Ocean Observations

The offshore energy industry is a major part of the blue economy and an innovator in the marine sector. Shell has a long history of developing energy projects using its knowledge, experience and proven deep-water technologies to unlock new resources safely and efficiently. In the Gulf of Mexico, Shell has been operating for over six decades and over the last 30 years have achieved exceptional milestones in the ultra deepwater. We also believe a new energy system is emerging - one where the world is transitioning to lower-carbon energy. This includes offshore opportunities in renewable energy. Recently Shell is investing in offshore wind in the U.S. Northeast. These oil and gas assets and future wind assets provide opportunities to grow the network of ocean observations by leveraging Shell's platforms and facilities to collect new data in areas and water depths otherwise sparse. In regions where offshore wind projects are in the early planning, opportunities exist to build innovative observation networks and utilize autonomous technologies that contribute to the integrated networks envisioned by the NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System and to meet other critical science objectives of government, academia, and non-governmental stakeholders.

Shell's core value to deliver energy safely with no harm to the environment and people includes collaborating with partners to accelerate technology and gather observing data that helps build the ocean tools and predictions that benefits society's collective knowledge of the environments in which we operate and public safety on the water and in coastal communities. Improving understanding of the oceans requires unique approaches to collaborations. A strong, productive and sustainable blue economy requires these types partnerships to meet our individual and collective goals and provide resources that communities need to thrive.

In this presentation, we will highlight the our public-private partnerships in the Gulf of Mexico and the Northeast Atlantic that are creating opportunities and spaces for sustained ocean observations, utilization of autonomous technologies, and improvements in monitoring, forecasting and predictions critical to safety of people and the environment. These include deployments of glider technologies to expand surface current measurements, monitor and predict mesoscale dynamics in the and monitor the deep sea acoustic habitat and pelagic fish movement in the Gulf of Mexico to innovative approaches collaborating with fishermen to investigate impacts of offshore wind development with advances in technology in the U.S. Northeast.