sea change

Houston robotics company secures deal with Brazilian energy giant

Nauticus Robotics has secured a new customer, taking expanding its services to Brazil. Photo courtesy of Nauticus

Houston-based Nauticus Robotics, a developer of autonomous ocean robots, has landed a deal to supply its equipment to one of the world’s largest energy companies — a deal that eventually could blossom into $100 million worth of contracts.

Under the deal, Nauticus will dispatch its Aquanaut autonomous subsea robot to support offshore oil exploration activities carried out by Brazil’s Petrobras. Specifically, Aquanaut — propelled by artificial intelligence-enabled software — will supervise infield inspection services over a two-month span.

The deal with Brazil’s Petrobras represents Nauticus’ entry into the South American market and puts Nauticus in a position to score several Petrobras contracts that could collectively be valued at $100 million. Both companies are publicly traded.

Nicolaus Radford, founder and CEO of Nauticus, says Brazil offers a significant market opportunity for his company, as South America’s largest nation boasts one of the world’s most active offshore energy basins.

“A contract with [a] worldwide leading operator for Nauticus speaks to the state-of-the-art technologies of our autonomous robots as we further penetrate the global markets,” Radford says in a news release.

Petrobras is one of the world’s biggest offshore operators, managing 57 platforms, operating 10,000 miles of oil and gas pipelines, and producing the equivalent of 2.6 million barrels of oil per day. The company generated $124.47 billion in revenue last year.

Founded in 2014, Nauticus posted revenue of $11.4 million in 2022. The company went public last year through a $560 million merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Nauticus recently opened a new office in The Ion, in addition to their Webster office.

“I see Nauticus being the preeminent ocean robotics company. I want Nauticus to be an empire. It starts small but it grows — and it grows in many different ways, and we’re exploring all of those different ways to grow,” Radford told InnovationMap in May. “We’re leading a technology renaissance in the marine space — and that happens only a few times in an industry.”

Trending News

A View From HETI

Blackstone Infrastructure, an affiliate of Blackstone Inc., will acquire a major Texas electricity provider. Photo via Shutterstock

Blackstone Infrastructure, an investment giant with $600 million in assets under management, has agreed to buy publicly traded TXNM Energy in a debt-and-stock deal valued at $11.5 billion.

TXNM Energy is the parent company of Lewisville-based Texas New Mexico Power (TNMP), which supplies electricity to more than 270,000 homes and businesses throughout Texas. Its Houston-area service territory includes Alvin, Angleton, Brazoria, Dickinson, Friendswood, La Marque, League City, Sweeny, Texas City and West Columbia.

Once Blackstone Infrastructure wraps up the deal in the second half of 2026, Albuquerque, New Mexico-based TXNM will no longer be a public company. But TNMP’s headquarters will remain in Texas and its rates will continue to be set by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. TNMP was founded in 1934.

Blackstone Infrastructure is affiliated with investment powerhouse Blackstone Inc., which has $1.2 trillion in assets under management and is the world’s largest investment manager.

“TNMP has done an excellent job of meeting its customers’ growing demand for electricity and supporting the communities it serves,” Sean Klimczak, Blackstone’s global head of infrastructure, said in a news release. “We look forward to utilizing our long-term investment commitments to support TNMP as they continue on this path of high-demand growth across Texas.”

During TXNM’s fourth-quarter earnings call in February, Chairwoman and CEO Patricia Vincent-Collawn said the company’s five-year Texas capital investment plan had grown by more than $1 billion.

“Our future is so bright with these increased investment levels that we are now targeting earnings growth of 7 percent to 9 percent through 2029,” Vincent-Collawn said.

“Our financial expectations are driven by the continued expansion of grid infrastructure supporting growth and reliability in our Texas service territory,” she added.

In 2024, TXNM reported revenue of $1.96 billion, up 1.7 percent from the previous year.

Trending News