Graham Henley

Graham Henley was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) in 2023. He leads an organisation representing almost 100 member companies, advancing safety, efficiency and sustainability across the sector through technical guidance and best practice used by both industry and regulators. Before joining IOGP, Graham completed an international career with Shell that took him to the deserts of Oman, the frozen seas off Sakhalin, and the tropical climates of Nigeria, Malaysia and Brunei. He led Shell’s businesses in Syria before taking a short assignment as Vice President, Government Relations International. During his final decade with Shell, he held senior headquarters roles, first as Vice President of Conventional Oil & Gas Projects, responsible for a $35 billion portfolio of projects in execution across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and subsequently leading the company’s global engineering and projects functions. From 2018 to 2023, Graham served on the IOGP Engineering Leadership Council, which brings together heads of engineering from leading IOCs and NOCs. He completed a four-year term as Chair and has been a member of the IOGP Board since 2019. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and serves on the Board of Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL).

Session Overview

Thursday, 5 November

11:35

Upstream Plenary Hall B 11:35 - 12:05

EPC and OFS delivery super-cycle: managing execution risk as capacity tightens

A growing pipeline of upstream developments is placing mounting pressure on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors and oilfield service (OFS) providers. With around $40 billion of upstream projects reaching FID in early 2026 and Middle East investment continuing to scale, contractor backlogs are building and project pipelines expanding faster than capacity can respond. Geopolitical disruption has further strained supply chains, logistics and contractor availability across key producing regions. Competition for specialised engineering, fabrication capacity and skilled labour is intensifying as multiple large projects advance simultaneously across offshore and onshore basins. Logistics disruptions, tariff-driven cost escalation and complex global supply chains are adding further strain to execution planning and project economics. In a delivery super-cycle where contractor capacity is the binding constraint, the ability to align development schedules, manage supply chain risk and sequence projects effectively will determine which operators deliver on time and which face costly delays.

Attendee Insights:
Examine how operators, EPCs and service providers are managing contractor backlogs and cost escalation, and how collaboration is helping safeguard project delivery in a more disrupted execution environment.