Control Cutter appoints Steve Louis as Group Chief Commercial Officer and US Managing Director
Control Cutter, a Norwegian engineering and technology firm specializing in subsea and topside cutting and decommissioning solutions, has appointed Steve Louis as Group Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director for its US Region. The move comes as operators in the Gulf of America face growing decommissioning backlogs and increased regulatory pressure to retire idle infrastructure.
Louis will oversee Control Cutter’s US business, including its Houston office and Broussard, Louisiana facility, which supports Gulf of America and Pacific Coast operations. In his role as Group Chief Commercial Officer, he will also lead commercial strategy for the company’s global portfolio, reporting to the Group CEO.
Louis brings extensive experience in offshore engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI), subsea construction, and decommissioning. He has held senior leadership positions at TechnipFMC, Subsea 7, and EMAS, and most recently at Promethean Decommissioning, where he built the decommissioning business from its early stages to significant scale. Louis also serves as the Chairman of the Offshore Network Decommissioning & Abandonment GOA Conference and has delivered multiple keynote addresses on decommissioning at industry conferences.
Control Cutter’s patented cutting technology is designed to reduce decommissioning costs by enhancing efficiency in the severance of conductors, casings, anchor chains, flexible risers, pipelines, and umbilicals. “Operators are looking for ways to take cost and schedule out of decommissioning without taking on additional risk,” Louis stated. “Control Cutter has the patented technology to do exactly that, and the Gulf of America and Pacific Coast are where we can make the biggest difference.”
The appointment highlights Control Cutter’s commitment to expanding its presence in the US market, which represents the company’s largest market potential. Bernt Arne Breistein, Group CEO of Control Cutter, said, “By combining the Group Chief Commercial Officer and Regional Managing Director roles in one position based in the United States, we put commercial decision-making closer to our customers while keeping strategies aligned across all our regions, the US, Norway, the UK, Brazil, and beyond, as we grow. Steve's track record in decommissioning is exactly what this role calls for, and we are delighted to have him on board.”
Control Cutter, headquartered in Tananger, Norway, offers safe, time-efficient, and environmentally responsible cutting and decommissioning solutions for the offshore energy industry. Its subsea and conductor decommissioning packages support cutting and removal, well plugging and abandonment, and marine operations worldwide.