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30+ CERAWeek events featuring Houston energy leaders

where to be

Heading to CERAWeek? Here's where to find Houston energy leaders on the Agora track. Photo courtesy of CERAWeek

CERAWeek returns to Houston March 23-27, bringing more than 1,000 speakers, executives and energy innovators to Houston.

Under this year's theme, "Convergence and Competition: Energy, Technology and Geopolitics,” panels will tackle topics ranging from policy and global relations to the growing role of AI in the energy sector. Most of the innovation-themed events are organized under the Agora track and will feature many Houston-area startups, universities, companies and scientists. Panels will feature leaders from Fortune 500 companies and top U.S. government officials, scientists and founders pushing towards a more carbon-neutral future.

Here are some of the many events featuring Houston leaders on the Agora track you can't miss if you want to learn more about Houston energy innovation.

Monday, March 23rd


Scaling Innovation: Building the ecosystem for the next energy breakthroughs

Featuring: Georgina Campbell Flatter, CEO of Greentown Labs

This event is at 10:30 a.m. Find more info here

Vaulted Deep | The Subsurface as Waste and Carbon Infrastructure

Featuring: Julia Reichelstein, co-founder and CEO of Vaulted Deep

This event is at 11:30 a.m. Find more info here

Collaboration Spotlight | Collision Course: How Houston's Ion District turns proximity into innovation

Featuring: Adrian Tromel, chief innovation officer at Rice University; Rawand Rasheed, co-founder and CEO of Helix Earth Technologies; Marc Davidson, senior technical advisor at Veriten

This event is at 1:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Methane Reduction in Practice: Field learnings

Featuring: Matt Kolesar, chief environmental scientist at ExxonMobil

This event is at 2 p.m. Find more info here.

Time-to-AI: Shrinking the data-center clock

Featuring: Robert Ott, vice president of wholesale origination at NRG Energy; Andrew Johnston, business line director, data centers at SLB

This event is at 2:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Scaling CCUS: Which industries, regions and funding sources?

Featuring: Gino Thielens, vice president of renewables and energy efficiency at SLB; Ian McIntyre, senior vice president, 1PointFive

This event is at 3 p.m. Find more info here.

Democratization of AI: Redefining where work gets done

Featuring: Rob Crane, technology scouting and venturing manager at SLB

This event is at 3:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Tuesday, March 24th


Syzygy Plasmonics | Affordable, Globally Compliant SAF Using Abundant Biogas Feedstock

Featuring: Trevor Best, CEO and founder of Syzygy Plasmonics

This event is at noon. Find more info here.

Accelerating Idea to Impact: Carving new ways to innovation

Featuring: David Sholl, executive vice president for research at Rice University

This event is at 1 p.m. Find more info here.

NRG | From the Front Lines: A deep dive into grid reliability

Featuring: Matthew Pistner, senior vice president of generation at NRG Energy; Robert Patrick, vice president of development engineering and construction at NRG Energy

This event is at 1:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Energy Efficiency: The industrial advantage

Featuring: Jason Urso, CTO of Honeywell Industrial Automation

This event is at 1:30 p.m. Find more info here.

The CEO Blueprint | Strategy

Featuring: Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO and chairman of Baker Hughes

This event is at 2:55 p.m. Find more info here.

Occidental | Beyond the Technology: Turning direct air capture into CDR credits

Featuring: William Barrett, vice president of product development at 1PointFive

This event is at 3:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Wednesday, March 25th


Innovations in Sustainable Steel

Featuring: Laureen Meroueh, founder and CEO of Heartha Metals Inc.

This event is at 9 a.m. Find more info here.

Rice University | The Science of Geologic Carbon Storage

Featuring: Sahar Bakhshian, assistant professor, earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University

This event is at 9:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Sparking Innovation: The impact of interdisciplinary collaboration

Featuring: Marie Contou Carrere, executive director of the Rice Sustainability Institute; Sandy Guitar, executive director of TEX-E

This event is at 10 a.m. Find more info here.

Models of Innovation, Models of Capital

Featuring: Bobby Tudor, chair of Houston Energy Transition Initiative and chairman of the board for Greentown Labs

This event is at 10:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition

This event is at noon. Find more info here. Learn more about the competing teams here.

Baker Hughes | Meeting Industrial and AI-Driven Energy Demand with Flexible, Reliable and Sustainable Power Solutions

Featuring: Daniele Marcucci, industrial power generation product director at Baker Hughes; Florent Rousset, geothermal leader, new energies at Baker Hughes

This event is at noon. Find more info here.

Thursday, March 26th


Mission-driven Minds: How space exploration inspires the next generation of energy innovators

Featuring: Trina Sadberry, head of brand & engagement in the United States at Equinor; Laura Dandridge, corporate affairs advisor at Chevron; Jack Fischer, chief integration officer at Intuitive Machines; Ginger Kerrick Davis, chief strategy officer at Barrios Technology

This event is at 9 a.m. Find more info here.

Rice University | Nature-based Solutions: A focus on biochar and enhanced rock weathering

Featuring: Carrie Masiello, director of the sustainability institute at Rice University; Mark Torres, associate professor, earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University

This event is at 9:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Growing Direct Air Capture

Featuring: Anthony Cottone, resident and general manager at 1PointFive

This event is at 9:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Occidental | Advancement and Growth Opportunities for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Featuring: Vishal Gupta, president and general manager of EOR Ventures at Occidental

This event is at 9:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Geothermal: Charting progress on technological advancements

Featuring: Jonathan Ajo-Franklin, trustee professor, earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University; Florent Rousset, geothermal leader, new energies at Baker Hughes

This event is at 10 a.m. Find more info here.

Newfound Materials | Bridging the Synthesis Gap in AI-Driven Materials Innovation

Featuring: Matt McDermott, founder and CEO of Newfound Materials

This event is at 10 a.m. Find more info here.

Hertha Metals | The Future of Steel Production: Going beyond the blast furnace

Featuring: Laureen Meroueh, founder and CEO of Heartha Metals Inc.

This event is at 11 a.m. Find more info here.

Advanced Materials with Low-Carbon Intensity

Featuring: Matteo Pasquali, director of the Rice Carbon Hub

This event is at 11:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Lessons from the Lab: Common pitfalls of hard tech startups

Featuring: Jeremy Pitts, managing director of Activate Houston

This event is at 11:30 a.m. Find more info here.

TotalEnergies | Accelerating Direct Air Capture

Featuring: Isabelle Betremieux, head of R&T CO2 capture department at TotalEnergies

This event is at 1 p.m. Find more info here.

Spotlight: "NextGen" energy leaders of the future

Featuring: Renu Khator, chancellor and president of the University of Houston

This event is at 3 p.m. Find more info here.

Solidec | On-site, On-demand Production of Essential Chemicals

Featuring: Ryan DuChanois, co-founder and CEO of Solidec

This event is at 3:30 p.m. Find more info here.

From Your Site Articles
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright will return to CERAWeek this month, along with dozens of energy executives and innovators. Photos courtesy CERAWeek.

CERAWeek 2026 to bring energy leaders to Houston to discuss tech and geopolitics

where to be

CERAWeek returns this month, March 23-27, and will once again bring leading energy executives and government officials to Houston.

The 44th annual event will again host U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

Wright will participate in a plenary session focused on energy policy with Daniel Yergin, conference chair and vice chairman of S&P Global, on March 23. The following day, he will be featured in the Celebrating 10 Years of U.S. LNG reception with Jack Fusso, president and CEO, of Cheniere Energy. Both events are part of the Executive Conference track.

Burgum will participate in a leadership dialogue plenary session with Yergin on March 25. It is also part of the Executive Conference track. Burgum is also chairman of the National Energy Dominance Council, established by President Trump in 2025.

Top energy executives, many of whom are based in Houston, will also be featured prominently at the week-long event. Other speakers include:

  • Bill Blevins, director of grid coordination for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)
  • Trevor Best, CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics
  • Marie Contour Carrere, executive director of the Rice Sustainability Institute
  • Ryan DuChanois, co-founder and CEO of Solidec
  • Reginald DesRoches, president of Rice University
  • Georgina Campbell Flatter, CEO of Greentown Labs
  • Jim Fitterling, chair and CEO of Dow Inc.
  • Vicki Hollub, CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corp.
  • Renu Katon, chancellor and president of the University of Houston
  • Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips
  • Olivier Le Peuch, CEO of SLB
  • Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies SE
  • Adrian Tromel, chief innovation officer and interim VP for Innovation at Rice University
  • Bobby Tudor, founder and CEO of Artemis Energy Partners and chairman of HETI
  • Wael Sawan, CEO of Shell plc
  • Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes Co.
  • Mike Wirth, chairman and CEO of Chevron Corp.
  • Jeremy Pitts, managing director of Activate Houston
  • And many others

This year, CERAWeek will center around the theme of Convergence and Competition: Energy, Technology and Geopolitics.

"Change is inescapable," Yergin said in a news release. "The global energy landscape—and to a large extent the entire global economy—is being fundamentally reshaped by the dual forces of convergence and competition. The race for AI is fusing the energy and technology industries like never before, bringing into sharp relief the need to align energy expansion with sustainable economic growth."

"Yet, the potential for collaboration and innovation is increasingly matched by the risk for collision and conflict in a world marked by geopolitical rivalry, tariffs and fragmented supply chains," he continued. "Reconciling an increasingly complex world with the growing demand for energy that is stable, secure and affordable is a complex reality that CERAWeek 2026 will tackle when global energy leaders meet in Houston."

Key topics of discussion will include:

  • Politics, Economics, Trade and Supply Chains
  • Policy, Regulations and Stakeholders
  • Oil Value Chain
  • Power, Renewables, Generation and Grid
  • AI and Digital
  • Minerals and Mining
  • Electrification Technologies
  • Investment and Financing
  • Chemicals and Materials
  • Business Strategies
  • The Innovation Ecosystem
  • Managing Emissions
  • Low-Carbon Fuels and Mobility
  • Climate and Sustainability
  • Workforce Strategy

The CERAWeek Innovation Agora track, which is the program's deeper dive into technology and innovation, will feature thought leadership on "AI, decarbonization, low carbon fuels, cybersecurity, hydrogen, nuclear, mining and minerals, mobility, automation and more," according to the release.

Agora Hubs will return this year and be divided into three zones: new energies, carbon and climate, and AI. The hubs will feature amphitheater-style sessions and panels. Agora Pods will allow energy startups to showcase their ideas in 20- to 30-minute presentations.

Additionally, CERAWeek will introduce a new program this year on Friday, March 27. Known as Look Forward, it will focus on economics, politics and technology.

See the full agenda for the week here. Find more information and register for the event here.

Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week is coming back for a second year. Photo via GHP

Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week announces 2025 dates, key events

comeback tour

Six local organizations focused on the energy transition have teamed up to bring back Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week.

The second annual event will take place Sept. 15-19, according to an announcement. The Ion District will host many of the week's events.

Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week was founded in 2024 by Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Halliburton Labs, Greentown Labs, Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI), Digital Wildcatters and Activate.

“Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week was created to answer a fundamental question: Can we achieve more by working together than we can alone?” Jane Stricker, senior vice president at the Greater Houston Partnership and executive director of HETI, said in the release.

So far, events for the 2025 Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week include an introduction to climatetech accelerator Activate's latest cohort, the Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum, a showcase from Greentown Labs' ACCEL cohort, and Halliburton Labs Pitch Day.

Houston organizations New Climate Ventures and Digital Wildcatters, along with Global Corporate Venturing, are slated to offer programming again in 2025. And new partners, Avatar Innovations and Decarbonization Partners, are slated to introduce events. Find a full schedule here.

Other organizations can begin entering calendar submissions starting in May, according to the release.

Last year, Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week welcomed more than 2,000 attendees, investors and industry leaders to more than 30 events. It featured more than 100 speakers and showcased more than 125 startups.

"In 2024, we set out to build something with lasting impact—rooted in the ingenuity of Houston’s technologists and founders. Thanks to a collaborative effort across industry, academia, and startups, we’ve only just begun to showcase Houston’s strengths and invite others to be part of this movement," Stricker added in the release. "We can’t wait to see the city rise to the occasion again in 2025.”

Rice professor and Solidec co-founder Haotian Wang's research enables CO2 to be converted into valuable chemicals and fuels. Photo courtesy Welch Foundation.

Houston clean energy pioneer earns prestigious Welch Foundation award

Awards Season

A Rice University professor has earned a prestigious award from the Houston-based Welch Foundation, which supports chemistry research.

The foundation gave its 2025 Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research to Haotian Wang for his “exceptionally creative” research involving carbon dioxide electrochemistry. His research enables CO2 to be converted into valuable chemicals and fuels.

The award included $100,000 and a bronze sculpture.

“Dr. Wang’s extensive body of work and rigorous pursuit of efficient electrochemical solutions to practical problems set him apart as a top innovator among early-career researchers,” Catherine Murphy, chairwoman of the foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board, said in a news release.

Wang is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice. The department’s Wang Group develops nanomaterials and electrolyzers for energy and environmental uses, such as energy storage, chemical and fuel generation, green synthesis and water treatment.

Wang also is co-founder of Solidec, a Houston startup that aims to turn his innovations into low-carbon fuels, carbon-negative hydrogen and carbon-neutral peroxide. The startup extracts molecules from water and air, then transforms them into pure chemicals and fuels that are free of carbon emissions.

Solidec has been selected for Chevron Technology Ventures’ catalyst program, a Rice One Small Step grant, a U.S. Department of Energy grant, and the first cohort of the Activate Houston program.

“Dr. Wang’s use of electrochemistry to close the carbon cycle and develop renewable sources of industrial chemicals directly intersects with the Welch Foundation mission of advancing chemistry while improving life,” Fred Brazelton, chairman and director of the Welch Foundation, said in the release.

Ramamoorthy Ramesh, executive vice president for research at Rice University, added: “We are proud to (Dr. Wang) at Rice. He’s using chemical engineering to solve a big problem for humanity, everything that the Welch Foundation stands for.”

Last year, the Hackerman Award went to Baylor College of Medicine's Livia Schiavinato Eberlin, who's known for her groundbreaking work in the application of mass spectrometry technologies, which are changing how physicians treat cancer and analyze tissues. Read more here.

The inaugural Activate Houston cohort has 11 fellows across energy, materials, life sciences, space, and other sectors. Photo via activate.org

6 energy transition innovators named to inaugural Houston hardtech fellowship cohort

onboarding

A national hardtech-focused organization has named its 2024 batch of innovators, which includes the inaugural Houston-based cohort.

Activate named 62 fellows and 50 companies for is latest class, which spans Berkley, California — where the organization is based, Boston, New York, and Houston. Additionally, Activate Anywhere, the program's virtual and remote cohort, was named. According to Activate, it received over 1,000 applicants.

“People, not ideas alone, move the world forward. It is through the drive and determination of brilliant scientists and engineers that we are witnessing true progress,” says Activate CEO Cyrus Wadia in a news release. “Our current Activate Fellows and alumni are already pioneering innovative solutions that make a measurable difference. We’re thrilled to support the next 62 visionaries who will lead the charge in addressing our most urgent issues through groundbreaking science and technology.”

It's the first year Activate has hosted a Houston-based cohort. The organization initially announced its expansion early last year. The inaugural cohort has 11 fellows across energy, materials, life sciences, space, and other sectors.

The named Houston fellows who are working on energy transition solutions include:

  • Krish Mehta, founder and CEO of Phoenix Materials, a company that decarbonizes concrete using industrial waste.
  • Gabriel Cossio, founder and CEO of Nanoscale Labs, which is developing a high-throughput and low-cost nanomanufacturing system.
  • Matthew McDermott, founder and CEO of Refound Materials, a materials technology company developing more efficient synthesis recipes for accelerated materials discovery.
  • Alec Ajnsztajn, founder and CEO of Coflux Purification, a company that's creating a product that allows industries and water providers to cheaply remove forever chemicals to provide safe drinking water at a fraction of current energy use.
  • Ryan DuChanois and Yang Xia , co-founders of Solidec, a Houston-based startup redefining chemical manufacturing.

The rest of the cohort includes:

  • Meagan Pitcher, co-founder and CEO of Bairitone Health, which brings advanced imaging diagnostics into the home environment.
  • Wei Meng, co-founder and CEO of LumiStrain, a startup offering novel technology for mechanical strain mapping.
  • Sonia Dagan of Atolla Tech, which is developing a lidar and machine-learning algorithm for identifying and quantifying airborne insects.
  • Rodrigo Alvarez-Icaza, founder and CEO of Elysium Robotics, a company that's replacing electric motors with muscle-like actuators to enable massive deployment of highly capable and low-cost robotic systems.
  • Blake Herren, CEO and Co-founder of Raven Space Systems, which is modernizing composite manufacturing with 3D printing and Industry 4.0 solutions to build the factories of the future.
Calling all hardtech innovators in Houston. Photo via Getty Images

Hardtech-focused accelerator program opens applications for inaugural Houston cohort

apply now

As of today, Houston innovators can apply for a new-to-Houston program that supports researchers on their entrepreneurial journeys.

Coinciding with Climate Week NYC Activate opened application period for its 2024 cohort. Applications close October 17.

“Climate Week is a premier showcase for innovation, and the opening of Activate applications couldn’t come at a more aligned time,” Activate Executive Managing Director Aimee Rose says in a news release. “It’s the perfect moment for innovators to connect, plan, and gain momentum when they’re most inspired. We’re poised and ready to support the next wave of brilliant scientists driving real change."

Applications are open across Activate's five programs. The two-year, hardtech-focused program was founded in Berkeley, California, in 2015 and expanded to Boston and New York before launching its virtual program, Activate Anywhere. Activate announced its expansion into Houston earlier this year, naming Jeremy Pitts as Houston managing director.

“Activate’s recruitment process is crucial, as it centers around finding scientists directly interested in solving urgent problems,” Pitts says. “Activate fellows are turning their technical breakthroughs into businesses that can help industries like manufacturing, energy, chemicals, computing, and agriculture, to meet their decarbonization and resiliency goals.”

Activate is looking for local and regional early-stage founders — who have raised less than $2 million in funding — who are working on high-impact technology. Each cohort consists of 10 fellows that join the program for two years. The fellows receive a living stipend, connections from Activate's robust network of mentors, and access to a curriculum specific to the program.

While the program is industry agnostic, Activate Houston is likely going to attract energy transition and climate tech companies like Fervo Energy, a Houston-based geothermal tech company, which went through the program in 2018.

The 2024 cohort, which kicks off with this application period, is the first for Activate's new CEO, Cyrus Wadia, who was named to the executive position on September 18. His leadership takes effect next month.

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Modular nuclear reactor company opens office in Houston

new to hou

The nuclear energy renaissance continues in Texas with an announcement by NuScale Power. The Oregon-based provider of proprietary and innovative advanced small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology announced in April it would be opening office space in Houston’s CityCentre.

“Opening this space in Houston underscores our commitment to meeting rising energy demand with safe, scalable nuclear technology,” John Hopkins, NuScale president and CEO, said in a news release. “This move expands our presence in a key market for partners, prospective customers, and stakeholders in addition to positioning us for the future as we focus on the near-term deployment of our industry-leading technology. Texas is leading the way in embracing advanced nuclear for grid resilience and industrial decarbonization, and we’re proud to expand our footprint and capabilities in this important region.”

Interest in nuclear power has been growing in recent years thanks to tensions with oil-rich nations, concerns about man-made climate change from fossil fuels, and the rapidly increasing power needs of data centers. Both Dow and Texas A&M University have announced expanded nuclear power projects in the last year, with an eye of changing the face of Texas’s energy industry through smaller, safer fission reactors.

Enter NuScale, founded in 2007 from technology developed at the University of Oregon. Their modular SMR technology generates 77 megawatts and is one of the only small modular reactors (SMR) to receive design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). These advances have led to runaway success for NuScale, whose stock has risen by more than 1,670 percent since the start of 2024.

The new operations campus in CityCentre is expected to facilitate the movement, installation and coordination of NuScale technology into the various energy systems. Typically, SMRs are used for off-grid installations, desalination operations, mining facilities and similar areas that lack infrastructure. However, the modularity means that they can be easily deployed to a variety of areas.

It comes none too soon. ERCOT projects that Texas data centers alone will require 77,965 megawatts by 2030.

Houston battery recycling company secures $32M in financing

fresh funding

Houston-based Ace Green Recycling has raised $32 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing to support its future plans for growth.

The battery recycling technology company secured the financing with Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that Ace previously announced it plans to merge with. Once the merger is completed, Ace will become a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "AGXI."

Ace says the financing will be used to complete the merger and scale the company.

“This investment accelerates our mission to redefine battery recycling at a global scale,” Ace CEO Nischay Chadha said in a news release. “At Ace, we are deploying Greenlead® and LithiumFirst™ as a new standard–fully electrified, Scope 1 emissions-free solutions designed to replace legacy processes and unlock a cleaner supply chain for critical materials. We believe that the future of electrification depends on how efficiently and sustainably we recover these resources, and this milestone brings us meaningfully closer to that future.”

Ace says the funding will also be primarily used to fund capital expenditures related to the development of its planned flagship recycling facility, located outside of Beaumont, Texas. According to a February investor presentation, the facility is expected to launch in 2027. It will recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries.

Ace agreed to a 15-year battery material supply agreement with Miami-based OM Commodities last year, in which OM Commodities would supply Ace with at least 30,000 metric tons of lead scrap to be recycled annually. Switzerland-based Glencore plc agreed to a 15-year offtake agreement to purchase up to 100 percent of ACE’s products from four of its planned lead-acid and lithium-ion battery recycling parks back in 2022.

Ace also reported that the funding will be put toward "supporting the expansion of operations and to fund the purchase of other companies," in the release.

Houston AI startup rolls out platform to reshape oil and gas workflows

AI for energy

Houston-based Collide is looking to solve AI issues in the energy industry from within.

Co-founded by former oil roughneck Collin McLelland, the company has developed AI software for operators and field teams, shaped by firsthand oilfield experience. Its AI-native platform “retrieves and synthesizes data from authoritative sources to deliver accurate, cited, and energy-focused insights to oil and gas professionals,” according to the company.

“Oil and gas has a graveyard full of technology that was technically impressive and operationally useless,” McLelland tells Energy Capital. “The reason is almost always the same: the people who built it didn't understand what they were actually solving for. When you're an outsider, you see workflows and try to automate them. When you're an insider, you understand why those workflows exist—the regulatory constraints, the physical realities, the liability concerns, the trust dynamics between operators and service companies.”

Collide’s large language model, known as RIGGS, performed well in recent benchmarking results when taking a standardized petroleum engineering (SPE) exam, the company reports. The exam assesses understanding from conceptual terminology to complex mathematical problem-solving.

According to Collide, RIGGS achieved a score of 67.5 percent on a 40-question subset of the SPE petroleum engineering exam, outperforming other large language models like Grok 4 (62.5 percent), Claude Sonnet 4.5 (52.5 percent) and GPT 5.1 (4 percent).

RIGGS completed the test in 15 minutes, while Grok took two hours. Collide hopes over the next few months, RIGGS will receive a score between 75 percent to 80 percent accuracy.

The software could potentially help oil and gas companies produce accurate outputs and automate trivial workflows, which can open up valuable time for engineers and teams to work on other pressing matters, according to McLelland.

“Collide exists because we sat in those seats — we were the engineers, the operators, the field guys,” he says. ”RIGGS scoring higher on the PE exam versus the frontier labs isn't a party trick. It's evidence that the model understands petroleum engineering the way a petroleum engineer does, because it was built by people who do.”

RIGGS was trained on Collide’s Spindletop hardware and is supported by a vast library of information, as well as a reasoning engine and validation layer that uses logic to solve problems.

“Longer term, we see RIGGS as the intelligence layer that sits underneath every operator's workflow — not a chatbot you open in a browser, but something embedded in the tools engineers already use,” McLelland says. “The goal is to give every engineer the knowledge and pattern recognition of a 30-year veteran, on demand."

According to McLelland, Collide is already building toward reservoir analysis and production optimization, automated regulatory compliance (Railroad Commission filings, W-10s, G-10s), workover report generation, and engineering decision support in the field for near-term use cases. In March, Collide and Texas-based oil and gas operator Winn Resources announced a collaboration to automate the time-intensive process of filing monthly W-10 and G-10 forms with the Texas Railroad Commission, completing what’s normally a multi-hour task in under 30 minutes. Collide reports that Winn’s infrastructure now automates regulatory filings and provides real-time visibility into data gaps, which has reduced processing time by over 95 percent.

“Before Collide, I'd spend hours manually keying in filings,” Buck Crum, director of operations, said in a news release. “(In March), we had 50 wells to file and I was done in 20 minutes. It does the majority of the heavy lifting while keeping me in control. That human-in-the-loop approach saves meaningful time and gives us greater confidence in our compliance and reporting.”

Collide was originally launched by Houston media organization Digital Wildcatters as “a professional network and digital community for technical discussions and knowledge sharing.” After raising $5 million in seed funding led by Houston’s Mercury Fund last year, the company said it would shift its focus to rolling out its enterprise-level, AI-enabled solution.
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