Oil Companies Race to the Bottom of the Sea

The oil field of the future is taking shape 2 miles undersea. As exploration crews search for new deposits at ever-greater depths offshore, the industry is grappling with the technical challenges of piping crude and natural gas through more than 10,000 feet of water. That’s spurring a drive to anchor production equipment directly to the seafloor, rather than placing it on expensive floating platforms that can be buffeted by powerful storms.

Professors at the University of Houston, which this fall will launch a graduate program in subsea engineering, envision an underwater oil city overseen by swimming robots. “Subsea engineering is like a new frontier,” says Matthew Franchek, who’s heading the program. “We can at least walk on the moon. You’re not walking in subsea.”