Rewriting The Energy Equation for a more resilient industry
Lorenzo Simonelli, Chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes, shares his perspective about enhancing natural gas and LNG infrastructure, AI integration, and asset optimisation.
With the evolving geopolitics and fractured trade routes, where do you see the most critical infrastructure gaps for natural gas and LNG?
Various conflicts have highlighted the critical need for energy diversity and redundancy. We anticipate a stronger focus on diversifying energy supply sources to enhance the reliability of global energy markets and meet increasing demand. There is a growing need for increased upstream investment to expand global production capacity to meet rising demand, leading to durable upstream spending cycle in the years ahead.
We have already seen an uptick in activity in countries including Indonesia and Argentina, and it is likely the pace will continue to accelerate to address the priorities of diversification and digital infrastructure demands. We also expect incremental growth in the development and expansion of LNG terminals and upgrades to pipeline networks.
In terms of redundancy: Rebuilding global inventories above historical levels is expected to play a critical role in supporting energy security, particularly given the significant recent drawdown of inventories. This isn’t just about increasing energy supply — it’s about creating a more robust and resilient energy system. That means building in greater redundancy, diversifying infrastructure, and reducing reliance on single, large-scale assets.
Baker Hughes is uniquely positioned to address these needs, thanks to our differentiated capabilities across the entire energy value chain — from molecule to electron.
Could you share more details on the idea behind the focus of Baker Hughes on rewriting The Energy EquationTM?
The Energy EquationTM depicts the interdependence between industrial outcomes and energy sources to drive human progress and keep the world in balance. Baker Hughes has always been an energy technology pioneer. Today, we recognise that energy sources determine what industries can achieve. Likewise, industry pushes energy systems to become cleaner, smarter and more adaptable.
Rewriting The Energy Equation™ means helping the world meet its needs by shaping how industry and energy advance together. Because we operate on both sides of The Energy Equation™, Baker Hughes can deliver this promise in ways no other company can – bringing together industrial outcomes and energy sources to drive progress.
We are focused on ensuring our portfolio supports our strategy to become a leading industrialised energy solutions provider with the technology and capabilities to sustainably transform energy from molecule
to electron.
How is Baker Hughes deploying AI across the energy value chain and where is AI delivering the highest measurable efficiency gains in asset optimisation?
At Baker Hughes, we are deploying AI across the value chain — from well construction and field production to LNG facilities — combining deep domain expertise with advanced analytics to optimise processes, predict equipment issues before they occur and help operators make smarter decisions in real time.
One of the biggest opportunities is process optimisation, where AI continuously evaluates operating conditions and recommends adjustments that can increase production, improve energy efficiency, and reduce emissions while maintaining reliability.
We are already seeing measurable results: in one floating LNG application, our AI-enabled process optimisation solution increased production by 1.7% while reducing specific energy consumption by 1.5%. More broadly, the greatest gains come from production optimisation and asset performance, where customers see improvements in output, uptime and operational efficiency.
What are you looking forward to at Gastech 2026 in Bangkok?
The conference’s return to the Asia Pacific region coincides with energy security reclaiming the world’s urgent attention. I look forward to seeing our customers — and colleagues — in the region to collaborate on future-proofing energy systems.
