Ongoing advances in subsea technologies and their proven application in offshore regions around the world mean that there can be few, if any, other areas of the upstream industry that can claim such strong prospects for the future. With exploration and development projects routinely taking place in waters well beyond 1500 m, and with some nearing the 3000 m mark, the need for reliable subsea systems and hardware—and continued essential R&D—remains paramount if oil and gas companies are to access the new and increasingly remote reservoirs they need to replenish their own reserves and meet the demands of an ever-thirsty global energy market. The future of the subsea market looks remarkably promising. The case looks even more solid when you consider that many observers appear to forget that subsea does not just mean deep water and harsh environments—there are dozens of developments currently under way or in the pipeline in much less than 400 m of water that will require subsea systems and hardware. When you consider that whatever the basic offshore design or concept—drilling rig, fixed production platform, floating production facility, or total seabed-to-shore package—subsea equipment of one form or another is required, the view gets even better. Add to this the increasingly cost-effective subsea systems also being introduced to the market or further refined, with various seabed processing, separation, boosting, and compression designs either in action or emerging for pioneering projects around the world within the next year or two, and the fundamentals become even more reassuring, not only for the industry itself but also for shareholders and an investment community looking for lower-risk options post-Macondo. Some of the offshore industry’s leading authorities are forecasting that, despite some relatively short-term delays in the US Gulf of Mexico, the future for the subsea market is healthy up to 2014 and beyond. Infield Systems says in its latest market update that the subsea sector’s future looks good due to the basic factors of reserve depletion in shallow-water regions, increased deepwater activity, and enhanced-oil-recovery efforts and techniques. “More than USD 87 billion will be invested in development drilling and the manufacturing and hooking-up of subsea units to 2014. This represents a substantial 30% increase over the previous 5 years,” it states.