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Offshore industry applications Dr Ralph Rayner1 and Robin Stephens2 1Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, 80 Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5BJ, United Kingdom. Email: ralph@ 2BMT ARGOSS, Grove House, Meridians Cross, 7 Ocean Way, Ocean Village, Southampton, S014 3TJ, United Kingdom. Email: robin.stephens@ …… Abstract Knowledge of marine meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) conditions is an essential requirement for all stages of offshore oil and gas exploration and production. Metocean data and information are necessary to support offshore operational planning, for the optimal design of offshore installations and to ensure offshore safety and environmental protection. As exploration and production has moved into ever greater water depths, and into hostile frontier areas such as the Arctic, these requirements have become more critical and more exacting. This has lead to significant needs for improved capabilities in metocean measurement, data analysis techniques and the application of numerical models. Increased understanding of climate change, whether natural or anthropogenic, has also led to a wider recognition of the importance of global scale operational oceanographic capability in supporting better understanding of how long-term changes in the oceanic and atmospheric environment might impact offshore activities. Following an outline of offshore industry requirements for metocean information the paper describes how the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) has contributed to supporting offshore industry needs. Finally, the paper explores how GODAE has laid the foundations upon which to build new services capable of meeting as yet unfulfilled oil and gas industry needs leading to further improvements to offshore industry economics and safety and better protection of the marine environment. Key words: Operational oceanography, oil and gas industry, offshore operations, offshore design Introduction Early move