ADVERTISEABOUT USSUBMIT A STORYSUBSCRIBETERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY
Visit our family of Brands

SLB seals the deal with Norwegian company on carbon capture JV

team work

SLB now owns 80 percent of Aker Carbon Capture, with Aker retaining a 20 percent stake. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based energy technology company SLB has finalized its purchase of a majority stake in Norway’s Aker Carbon Capture, a provider of industrial-scale carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology.

SLB now owns 80 percent of Aker Carbon Capture, with Aker retaining a 20 percent stake.

In March 2024, SLB said it would pay roughly $388 million for the 80 percent stake in Aker and contribute its carbon capture business to the joint venture. In addition, SLB said it might pay close to $130 million over the next three years if the joint venture meets certain performance benchmarks.

“There is no credible pathway toward net zero without deploying carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) at scale,” Gavin Rennick, president of SLB’s New Energy business, says in a news release. “In the next few decades, many industries that are crucial to our modern world must rapidly adopt CCS to decarbonize. Through the joint venture, we are excited to accelerate disruptive carbon capture technologies globally.”

The joint venture combines Aker’s Advanced Carbon Capture technologies — including Just Catch and Big Catch modular technology for midsize and large facilities, and Just Catch Offshore for offshore gas turbines — with SLB’s technology portfolio.

“There is no business as usual in the push toward net zero — we will accelerate decarbonization today and commercialize innovative technologies for the future,” says Egil Fagerland, newly appointed CEO of the Norway-based joint venture.

Last fall, SLB and Aker Solutions teamed up with Luxembourg-based energy engineering company Subsea7 to create OneSubsea. SLB holds a 70 percent stake in OneSubsea, with Aker’s share at 20 percent and Subsea7’s share at 10 percent.

From Your Site Articles
The new joint venture, OneSubsea, is based in Oslo, Norway, and Houston. Photo courtesy

Houston company closes offshore JV deal to drive innovation, efficiency in subsea production

teaming up

A new joint venture with co-headquarters in Houston will explore opportunities in the market for subsea systems that tap into offshore energy reserves.

The business, called OneSubsea, is a joint venture of Houston-based energy technology company SLB (Schlumberger), Norwegian energy engineering company Aker Solutions, and Luxembourg-based energy engineering company Subsea7. SLB holds a 70 percent stake in OneSubsea, with Aker’s share at 20 percent and Subsea7’s share at 10 percent.

The financial foundation of the joint venture is a combination of $700.5 million in stock, cash, and a promissory note. In addition, SLB and Aker folded their subsea businesses into the joint venture, which was announced in 2022.

“As demand grows for cost-effective, efficient, and sustainable energy,” the joint venture says, “a large portion of the corresponding supply increase will come from offshore developments resulting in strong deepwater activity … and the need for innovative subsea solutions.”

OneSubsea is based in Oslo, Norway, and Houston.

As Aker explains, a subsea system “provides a way to produce hydrocarbons from areas not economically or easily developed by the use of an offshore platform.” The system’s ocean-floor components are connected to subsea pipelines, riser systems, and other equipment.

Hydrocarbons are the key components of oil and natural gas.

“The offshore market is demonstrating a sustained resurgence as operators across the world look to accelerate development cycle times and increase the productivity of their offshore assets,” says Olivier Le Peuch, CEO of SLB.

Mads Hjelmeland is the newly appointed CEO of OneSubsea, which employs about 11,000 people around the world.

“OneSubsea’s extensive technology portfolio and engineering expertise enable us to address future market trends and needs at a unique scale. In doing so, we aim to fulfil our purpose of expanding the frontiers of subsea to drive a sustainable energy future,” says Hjelmeland, who is based in Houston.

Hjelmeland’s tenure with the previous iteration of OneSubsea began in 2014. That’s a year after SLB and Cameron, a supplier of equipment, systems and services for the oil and gas industry, formed a joint venture known as OneSubsea to serve the subsea oil and gas market. SLB owned a 40 percent stake in OneSubsea, and Cameron owned a 60 percent stake.

To establish OneSubsea, Cameron contributed its subsea business, and SLB pitched in a $600 million payment to Cameron along with several business units.

In 2016, SLB acquired Cameron in a cash-and-stock deal initially valued at $14.8 billion. OneSubsea then became a subsidiary of SLB, and that subsidiary is now part of the newly reconfigured OneSubsea.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Leader tapped for Texas 'nuclear renaissance' and more energy news to know

Trending Topics

Editor's note: The top energy transition stories for the start of October include Texas' big bet on nuclear energy, ERCOT's innovative efforts, CenterPoint's capital improvement plan, and more. Read on for the five most-read EnergyCapitalHTX stories published Oct.1-15, 2025:


1. Policy adviser tapped to lead ‘nuclear renaissance’ in Texas

Jarred Shaffer has been named director of the new Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office. Photo via LinkedIn.

As Texas places a $350 million bet on nuclear energy, a budget and policy adviser for Gov. Greg Abbott has been tapped to head the newly created Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office. Jarred Shaffer is now director of the nuclear energy office, which administers the $350 million Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund. The fund will distribute grants earmarked for the development of more nuclear reactors in Texas. Continue reading.

2. ERCOT steps up grid innovation efforts to support growing power demand

ERCOT has launched its new Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) initiative to help resolve grid challenges and meet growing demand. Photo via Getty Images

As AI data centers gobble up more electricity, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) — whose grid supplies power to 90 percent of Texas — has launched an initiative to help meet challenges presented by an increasingly strained power grid. ERCOT, based in the Austin suburb of Taylor, said its new Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) initiative will tackle research and prototyping of emerging technology and concepts to “deeply understand the implications of rapid grid and technology evolution, positioning ERCOT to lead in the future energy landscape.” Continue reading.

3. CenterPoint launches $65B capital improvement plan

CenterPoint Energy has launched a $65 million capital improvement plan that will focus on building and maintaining a “resilient” electric grid. Photo via centerpointenergy.com

To support rising demand for power, Houston-based utility company CenterPoint Energy has launched a $65 billion, 10-year capital improvement plan. CenterPoint said that in its four-state service territory — Texas, Indiana, Minnesota and Ohio — the money will go toward building and maintaining a “resilient” electric grid and a safe natural gas system. Continue reading.

4. UH projects propose innovative reuse of wind turbines and more on Gulf Coast

The Houston projects involve the innovative reuse of oil rig platforms and wind turbines. Courtesy rendering

Two University of Houston science projects have been selected as finalists for the Gulf Futures Challenge, which will award a total of $50 million to develop ideas that help benefit the Gulf Coast. Sponsored by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Coast Research Program and Lever for Change, the competition is designed to spark innovation around problems in the Gulf Coast, such as rising sea levels, pollution, energy security, and community resiliency. The two UH projects beat out 162 entries from organizations based in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Continue reading.

5. Energy startup Base Power raises $1 billion series C round

Base Power, founded by Justin Lopas and Zach Dell, has closed one of the largest venture capital deals of the year. Photo courtesy Base Power.

Austin-based startup Base Power, which offers battery-supported energy in the Houston area and other regions, has raised $1 billion in series C funding—making it one of the largest venture capital deals this year in the U.S. Continue reading.

Greentown to add new Houston AI lab from latest Houston partner

AI partnership

Greentown Labs has partnered with Shoreless to launch an AI lab within its Houston climatetech incubator.

"Climatetech and energy startups are transforming industries, and AI is a critical tool in that journey," Lawson Gow, Greentown's Head of Houston, said in a news release. "We're excited to bring this new offering to our entrepreneurs and corporate partners to enhance the way they think about reducing costs and emissions across the value chain."

Shoreless, a Houston-based company that enables AI adoption for enterprise systems, will support startups developing solutions for supply-chain optimization and decarbonization. They will offer Greentown members climate sprint sessions that will deliver AI-driven insights to assist companies in reducing Scope 3 emissions, driving new revenue streams and lowering expenses. Additionally, the lab will help companies test their ideas before attempting to scale them globally.

"The future of climatetech is intertwined with the future of AI," Ken Myers, Founder and CEO of Shoreless, said in a news release."By launching this AI lab with Greentown Labs, we are creating a collaborative ecosystem where innovation can flourish. Our agentic AI is designed to help companies make a real difference, and we are excited to see the groundbreaking solutions that will emerge from this partnership."

Greentown and Shoreless will collaborate on workshops that address industry needs for technical teams, and Shoreless will also work to provide engagement opportunities and tailored workshops for Greentown’s startups and residents. Interested companies can inquire here.

Recently, Greentown Labs also partnered with Los Angeles-based software development firm Nominal to launch the new Industrial Center of Excellence at Greentown's Houston incubator. It also announced a partnership with Houston-based EnergyTech Nexus, which will also open an investor lounge on-site last month. Read more here.

UH lands $8M in federal funding for fusion energy research

fusion funding

The University of Houston will receive $8 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for its work on fusion technology to help power data centers and medical work.

Venkat Selvamanickam, professor at UH’s Cullen College of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and director of the Advanced Manufacturing Institute, has been tasked to lead the research on superconducting magnets that he said will make compact fusion reactors possible.

“Beyond fusion, superconductors can transform how we deliver power to data centers, enable highly efficient motors and generators and improve electric power devices,” Selvamanickam said in a news release. “They also enable critical applications such as MRI and proton beam therapy for cancer treatment. I want society to experience the broad benefits this remarkable technology can provide.”

UH is one of 23 institutions selected to share part of $134 million from the DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences division. The total funding is split across two initiatives: $128 million for the Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) and $6.1 million for the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy program, according to the university.

UH will partner with the FIRE Collaborative for the research, which looks to understand why superconducting magnets in fusion reactors break down and work on developing solutions to make them more resilient.

“The advantage of fusion is it’s clean and it does not require storage. Solar energy can’t be used at night, and wind energy depends on wind conditions,” Selvamanickam added in the release. “Our goal is to make fusion a truly viable energy source.”

View All Listings