OTC ’15: Underwater Integrity Solutions gets $150 million commitment as start-up

HOUSTON -- A new subsea company has been launched at OTC in Houston, Texas. Underwater Integrity Solutions (UIS), based in Houston, is an independent company focused on underwater integrity, production assurance and life extension for subsea fields.

HitecVision, the leading European private equity oil and gas investor, has committed $150 million of equity to finance the build-up of the company. UIS has been established by five well-known subsea industry leaders, with over 140 years of combined global experience.

UIS will acquire businesses, and form strategic partnerships, to build an independent and global company solely focused on integrity and production assurance with the aim of maximising the Operators’ financial return on their subsea assets over their operational life.

“UIS is launching at a time when the trend for operations in deeper water and in more hostile environments is continuing. There are about 5,000 operational subsea wells around the world with almost 7,000 predicted by 2020. Subsea global annual operating expenditure is currently around $10 billion and expected to grow strongly over the course of the next few years. Today, there is a need to significantly reduce subsea operating costs and increase efficiency and hence value from subsea fields,” said Bill Boyle, CEO of UIS.

UIS has a leadership team on both sides of the Atlantic. In Houston will be Bill Boyle, CFO Mark Webster and COO Guido Bressani. In Aberdeen will be Chief Commercial Officer Neill Kelly, and CTO Geoff Fisher.

HitecVision is a leading private equity investor in the international oil and gas industry with offices in Stavanger, Oslo and Houston. The investment focus is on middle market investments in oilfield services and technology companies, and exploration and production companies across the oil and gas value chain. HitecVision manages five PE funds with more than $5 billion in assets under management.