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EIC HISTORY BOOK 80 years of continued success Celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2023, the Energy Industries Council (EIC) has had an incredible journey, starting with a meeting of 13 engineering business leaders in London in 1943. We are proud of our significant contributions to the energy sector and optimistic about the future. This EIC History Book honours eight decades of continued success, innovation, and commitment to the global energy supply chain.
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EIC NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA 30 Years of Delivering Excellence
Amanda Duhon EIC Regional Director, North & Central America
1943 -1994 Very early in the history of the Energy Industries Council (EIC), the United States (US) was on the organization’s radar. On 25 February 1943, the 13 organizing members of the EIC declared their strategic intent: the US leads the way in oil and gas, and British manufacturers must secure their fair share of international business while maintaining UK exports. A year later, in January 1944, the EIC undertook its first unofficial council visit to the US, hosted
EIC History Book • Chapter 2 • EIC North & Central America
by then EIC Chair Mr. Robson, to observe the workings of the oil industry. Following this visit, the EIC launched its first library of American publications in February 1944, providing members with valuable insights into the US market. The vision of international expansion remained dormant until 1991, when Dai Somerville-Jones was appointed Chief Executive of the EIC (1991 – 2004). In 1993, Dai urgently sought alternative revenue sources, including analyzing contracts published in the European Official Journal (OJ) and circulating relevant information to members at a lower cost than a full OJ subscription. This initiative generated £1.3 million in revenue in 1993, tripling over three years, with a small yet effective EIC team.
It wasn’t until July 1994, however, that the EIC began discussing an international presence in the US, when then EIC Board Member Mr Robert Williams with Williams Associates suggested running a “Houston Chapter” of the EIC, following the EIC’s first presence at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), Houston in May 1994. This discussion further fueled Dai’s significant ambitions to grow the EIC, and feedback from EIC members was enthusiastic! The unique relationship between the UK’s North Sea and the US Gulf of Mexico made it clear that our members were active in Houston, and the EIC needed a footprint.
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1995 - 2000 A wholly owned subsidiary of the EIC, EIC UK (Houston), Inc., was established in July 1995, and the EIC Houston office was opened on 28 August 1995, located at 14745 Memorial Drive, Suite 33, Houston, Texas 77070. Craig was joined by the EIC’s Claire Baker (now Griffiths), who was sent from the London office, to act as the Office Manager of the Houston Chapter. Through an official opening ceremony, the Houston office received UK Energy Minister Richard Needham, who stated that this latest EIC initiative was just the sort of exporting effort to be applauded. We immediately had 11 EIC members sign up for the Houston Chapter.
HRH Princess Anne Houston
At the February 1995 EIC Board meeting, Craig de Steiger — former Vice Consul at the British Consulate in Houston—was proposed as the Houston Chapter Manager. The board voted 12–1 in favor of launching the chapter, funded by subscriptions (£1,800 for EIC members, £2,900 for non-members), equivalent to today’s Primary Americas membership rate of around £6,000.
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The same year, alongside the launch of its Houston operations, the EIC began sponsoring UK companies to attend the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC)—the world’s largest offshore oil and gas exhibition, held annually in Houston. Initially organizing independent delegations in collaboration with the UK Department for Business & Trade (DBT), the EIC was soon recognized as the UK government’s official Trade Challenge Partner. This designation led to the creation of the global EIC/UK Pavilion, dramatically increasing UK company participation and unlocking significant marketing opportunities.
Houston office on Westheimer - 1995
OTC – 1995
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The EIC Houston office soon became a central hub for UK engagement, regularly hosting Ministers, Provosts, and official delegations. However, by January 1996, the EIC Houston Chapter’s membership had only reached 21 companies, and the office was operating at a monthly deficit. In the face of financial and operational hurdles, Dai would make the difficult decision to take a different approach to leadership in Houston, to ensure EIC’s first foreign startup would continue. Geoff Blanford was appointed Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Houston in July 1996; however, subscriptions remained low at just 25 Houston subscribers. To improve finances, Claire Miller—then Membership Director and later CEO (2013– 2016)—introduced a strategic partnership with
NOF, resulting in a “Corporate Membership”. By July 1997, Houston was profitable for the first time, with subscriptions doubling to 53 members, bringing the EIC Houston office from a loss to profits thanks to its first Corporate Member in NOF. Tom Kelly was appointed Regional Director of the EIC’s Houston office in 1997, who proved a most successful leader with local industry leaders from the Operator and Contractor community, expressing delight at both his expertise and the UK presence in town. The EIC made available for EIC members to rent serviced offices, and the EIC provided them with tailored project lists and introductions to influential purchasing executives. Thus, members could have a base in Houston, without the cost of establishing a base of their own thereby providing a soft-landing mechanism. Immediately, we had over 20 EIC members interested in officing with the EIC requiring an office move to 10777 Westheimer Roade,
Houston, Texas 77077. The new offices had a floor space of 10,000 sq. ft., with 22 external and 10 internal offices for Member companies to rent or use. We immediately had twelve of those offices rented upon move-in. Because of the successful trial/chapter, Houston’s success became the blueprint for EIC’s future global growth. A key business case assumption was that companies would pay a premium for extended membership into each new region outside the UK, as 70 companies did with Houston. This was also the first mention of Global/Primary membership by the Finance Committee, which proposed that the Global Membership subscription be set at £1000 per regional office for the 1999-2000 Fiscal Year, and then increased in line with Primary and Extended membership fees.
2000S Meeting room - EIC Houston Office, US
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Claire Baker was appointed Regional Manager in 2004 and served until 2009. Her leadership was widely respected amongst our members and stakeholders across Houston and London. Despite occupancy concerns in 2006 (expected to drop 65%), by February 2007, occupancy rebounded to Page 6
2010S OTC UK/EIC Pavilion
90% as more members took up office space and the UK Consulate grew its footprint at the EIC. However, the EIC Houston office would soon face leadership challenges.
Claire Baker and Dai Somerville-Jones The first ministerial visit to the Houston Office
OTC Houston - Late 1990s
Claire left in 2009 leaving a huge relationships gap with our members across the region. In September 2009, Kenley Clark was appointed Regional Manager but only served for a few months. Ray Wallace, who previously served as CEO of the EIC served as Regional Manager for a short time. Later, Mike Major, CEO of the EIC from 2007 to 2012, would be seconded to Houston from September 2009 to August 2012. Aimee Coates Monteverde then served as Executive Director of the EIC Houston from August 2012 to May 2014. Nyree Carter was appointed in June 2014 but served only briefly. This high degree of leadership turnover would not have had the only impact on EIC Houston; as a market downturn was brewing.
By November 2014, OPEC announced it would no longer serve as swing producer in world oil markets, triggering what would become the worst downturn in history of the American oil and gas market. To be sure, the rate of decline of the rig count, number of rigs left working at the worst of it, the lost oil and gas jobs and the significant decrease in capital expenditure exceeded that of the 1980s. We anticipated the Houston market would be the brunt of the Great Oil Bust of 2015-2016, and our members active in the region needed us to help them navigate a changing arena. With significant redundancies of key personnel in business development and marketing roles, the EIC has a role to play in placing a human face upon strategic client relationship management, and ensuring membership services would fill the gaps of lost key personnel. On April 13, 2015, Amanda C. Duhon was appointed Regional Manager (North & Central America), later becoming VP & Regional Director. Her leadership brought stability to the Houston office To say the least, the EIC Houston was hit hard in some ways, and flourished in others throughout the downturn. Before EIC History Book • Chapter 2 • EIC North & Central America
Day, as proclaimed by the Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner on 26 August 2016.
OTC Houston - 2019
OTC Houston
EIC Connect Mexico – Mexico City, Mexico - 2019
the downturn, we had 20 offices rented by EIC members, within a matter of months, we had six offices rented. Many members abandoned boots on the ground in Houston and returned staff to the UK as they looked to survive the downturn. The Houston office was left with high rent vis-à-vis empty office space; therefore, the EIC immediately investigated downsizing its office presence. In August 2016, we moved our offices up one floor to Suite 925 at 11490 Westheimer Road. With its new state-ofthe-art conference facilities, seven serviced offices, hot desk facilities, and an EIC staff open workspace, we opened doors on 22nd August EIC History Book • Chapter 2 • EIC North & Central America
2016. A few weeks later, we were delighted to receive our newly appointed CEO Stuart Broadley for a formal visit program, which consisted of an official office opening ceremony with much pomp and circumstance. Receiving over 160 members and industry stakeholders, HM Consul General of Houston Karen Bell, alongside Texas State and City of Houston officials. It was a time to celebrate a new home for the EIC and its members, the EIC’s continued commitment to Houston, and a time to reflect on the downturn and share positive market trends coming to fruition. It was also a time to celebrate Energy Industries Council
Internally, the EIC team was busy to say the least. We hosted more events per year than the average of years’ past, we had opened membership to overseas companies, we began speaking at non-EIC events, and we decided to bring the EIC Connect model to Houston.
To be sure, from 1995 - 2015, the EIC Houston office has hosted an average of 13 events receiving over 260 delegates per year. Since 2015, that number has increased around 40% to 28 events and 683 delegates annually. Moreover, the first year of the pandemic saw the Houston office delivering 58 events and receiving 2,365 delegates in 2020-2021 fiscal year. In 2016, following a unanimous vote of our Board of Directors, the EIC opened membership to non-UK based organizations. This meant energy supply chain companies in North & Central America could now become members of the EIC. Since 2017, the Houston office has welcomed close to 80 companies across the region to membership including our first Operator Member in March 2021 in ExxonMobil LNG and appointed Sarah Howell, Marketing Communications Manager, ExxonMobil LNG Global Market Development to Page 8
the EIC Board of Directors. Stuart Broadley, CEO of the EIC, would later serve as an ExxonMobil PowerPlay judge in September 2020. As of today, we currently have 53 active members in North & Central America including two Operators with a goal to reach 100 members by 2026. In October 2016, we established the EIC Connect Advisory Board for the USA. Consisting of twenty member and non-member companies, the goal was to gain buy-in from the market and promote the launch of the event to be held October 2017. The inaugural board consisted of members with representatives from the likes of Air Liquide, Arup, Atkins, Baker Hughes, BBVA Compass Bank, Bechtel, Bureau Veritas, ConocoPhillips, Foundocean, Marathon Oil, National Oilwell Varco, NES Global Talent, Petroplan, Shell, TechnipFMC, Turner & Townsend, wood, and Worley. EIC Connect Energy USA went live October 2017, receiving 18 speakers, 200 delegates, 20 exhibitors, four sponsors, and hosting over 70 oneto-one meetings. Now, EIC Connect Energy USA is a trusted brand in the region, receiving on average 20 speakers, 150 delegates, six sponsors, and 75+ one-to-one meetings each year. Around the time that we kicked off EIC Connect Energy USA, the market was booming in Mexico with the Energy Market Reforms announced in 2014. Investment was at an all-time high, with international firms across the operator, contractor, OEM and supply chain investing in Mexico. After hosting several trade delegations to Mexico, it Page 9
made sense to include EIC Connect Energy Mexico as part of the trade mission delegation. Therefore, in early 2018 we established the EIC Connect Energy Mexico Advisory Board consisting of representatives from the British Embassy Mexico City, International Society for Mexico Energy, IPS Powerful People, McDermott, PEMEX, RPS Energy, Scottish Development International, TechnipFMC, Whittaker Mexico, William Hare, and wood. We hosted our first Connect Mexico in February 2019 in Mexico City receiving 150 delegates and signing an MoU with the British Chamber Mexico during an official ceremony. We returned to Mexico City for Connect in February 2020 with 115 delegates and online in 2022 with 44 delegates. However, as politics changed in Mexico, bringing back the stateowned monopoly on energy; we’ve had to postpone further activity in market.
i.e., providers of goods and services, contractors, academia/think tanks, operators, and OEMs across the region. Individually and collectively, Advisory Board Members support the not-forprofit initiatives of the EIC’s Houston office. Participation provides access to expertise, exclusive networking opportunities, and avenues to test strategic thinking. The purpose of the Board was to establish a long-term, private platform for new insights and advice on solving business challenges, and to explore new opportunities by stimulating robust, high-quality conversations.
2020S Looking Ahead And in 2021, after successfully delivering EIC Connect in the region for five years, we dissolved the Connect Advisory Board and established the EIC Regional Advisory Board, North & Central America. The Board comprises a quorum of EIC member companies and industry stakeholders,
Breakfast in Houston with Subsea 7 & Guardian Decommissioning, 2025
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Conclusion: A Legacy of Connection and Collaboration In September 2022, we proudly brought the Regional Awards to Houston, marking a milestone in our global celebration of excellence in the energy supply chain. Now in its ninth edition, the World Energy Supply Chain Awards (WESCAs) celebrate Survive & Thrive participants that are not only enduring but redefining success in today’s dynamic energy economy. From Houston, we are honored each year to spotlight the most innovative and resilient organizations shaping the future of energy worldwide. In July 2024, we expanded our US presence to Louisiana, a strategic move that reflects the state’s growing importance across the entire energy industry. Louisiana is home to a robust mix of traditional oil and gas operations, cutting-edge petrochemical facilities, and a surge of clean energy investments, including hydrogen, carbon capture, sustainable aviation fuels, advanced manufacturing, and the Data Center boom. With over $US6 billion in recent investment, the state is rapidly becoming EIC History Book • Chapter 2 • EIC North & Central America
a national energy powerhouse. By establishing a local presence, we are ensuring our members have direct support and representation on the ground, in one of the most dynamic and diversified energy markets in the country.
Looking ahead, the EIC’s commitment to North & Central America is stronger than ever. With Houston poised to become the All-Energy Capital of the World, the EIC will continue to champion innovation, foster strategic connections, and elevate the voices of its members. This chapter may close, but the story of EIC Houston is still being written—driven by the people, partnerships, and purpose that have defined its legacy.
As the Energy Industries Council celebrates its 30th anniversary in Houston in August 2025, the journey from a bold idea in 1995 to a thriving regional hub stands as a testament to resilience, vision, and community. Through market booms and downturns, leadership transitions, and global shifts, the EIC Houston office has remained a steadfast partner to its members—offering not just intelligence and access, but a sense of belonging in one of the world’s most EIC team at the ‘30 Years Anniversary in Houston’ event, 2025 dynamic energy capitals.
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