April 2011 Vol. 238 No. 4

Features

2011 Offshore Technology Conference Highlights

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2011, the world’s largest offshore exhibition and conference, will get under way in Houston’s Reliant Park, May 2-5.

The annual event, sponsored by 12 industry organizations and societies, is expected to have an attendance of some 60,000 engineers, business men and women and scientists from around the world.

More than 2,000 of the world’s leading offshore service and manufacturing companies from 110 countries will be exhibiting their wares and services at the event. Whatever you are looking for in the offshore E&P industry, you will find it at the exhibition in Reliant Center and Reliant Arena, as well as an expanded outdoor area called the OTC Parkway.

University R&D Showcase
OTC is providing universities the opportunity to share with attendees their current and planned R&D projects of relevance to the offshore industry. Attendees can learn more about these projects during the four-day event by visiting Level 2 of Reliant Center.

Top Technical Program
OTC’s top technical program will feature 300 presentations by authors from around the world ranging from projects, management, and health, safety, and environment. The highest profile area will be on impacts to oil and gas drilling in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico following the Macondo oil spill.

Technical presentations will also cover major field developments in the Middle East and China, Australian and Southeast Asia LNG, the Frigg Field decommissioning and the first ship-shape Floating Production Unit (FPU) in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Several panels of experts and high-level government officials will address issues related to risk, drilling safety, energy development, and spill response for future oil and gas projects. The technical program also offers new topics such as marine archaeology and shale gas developments, as well as developments in wind energy and carbon sequestration.

Dinner, Awards, Fundraising
New this year is the OTC dinner, awards, and fundraising event to benefit the Gulf of Mexico Foundation.
The event will be held May 1 from 6-10:30 p.m. at the Goerge R. Brown Convention Center. This special dinner will be the signature event for OTC and its supporters. The event will recognize the OTC Distinguished Achievement Award recipients, raise funds for a worthy cause, and provide an opportunity for industry leaders to network with colleagues. Tickets are US$125 each and can be purchased in advance from the OTC. Sponsorships are also being offered at multiple levels.

Distinguished Achievement Awards
Each year, OTC recognizes individual, companies and organization that have made exceptional contributions to the offshore industry. Accomplishment recognized through the awards program focuses on important breakthroughs, innovations and technology advancements by an individual, company or organization.

The OTC 2011 individual Distinguished Achievement Awards will be presented to Cortis (Cort) Cooper, a metocean (meteorology and oceanographic) specialist in Chevron’s Energy Technology Company and a Chevron Fellow. Cooper is being honored for his contributions in metocean research and his leadership of joint industry efforts to address oceanographic challenges. His work includes research that identified a link between hurricane severity and the Loop Current, investigated the causes for recent severe hurricanes, possible impacts of global warming on hurricane severity, and provided a post-assessment of metocean conditions during Hurricane Ivan.

OTC’s Distiguished Achievement Award for Companies, Organization and Institutions recognizes BP Norway for the Life of Field seismic reservoir surveillance project, which demonstrated the practicality of implementing an entirely new way of seismic surveillance of producing hydrocarbon reservoirs. The project’s permanent installation of seismic cables covering 45 sq-km of the Valhall field allows for cost-effective repeat seismic surveys, and the system provides 4D data with unique repeatability compared to standard streamer data.

Also this year, ExxonMobil Development Company is being recognized with a special citation for the development and implementation of the “Design One, Build Multiple” philosophy to deliver major deepwater projects in Angola’s Block 15.

The awards will be presented at the signature dinner event at the George R. Brown Convention Center May 1.

New Technology Awards
Each year, OTC recognizes innovative technologies with the Spotlight on New Technology Award. This awards program is exclusively for OTC exhibitors and is designed to showcase the latest and most advanced technologies that are leading the industry into the future.
Spotlight recipients and products for 2011 are:
• Baker Hughes – Kymera™ Hybrid Bit Technology;
• Baker Hughes – geoFORM™ conformable sand management system with Morphic™ technology;
• Canrig Drilling Technology Ltd. – Canrig SureGrip™ Ball-and-Pocket Gripping Technology;
• Halliburton – CleanWave™ Water Treatment Service;
• MyCelx Technologies Corp – MyCelx Clean Water Technology System;
• National Oilwell Varco – ShearMax™ Low Force Casing Shear Rams;
• PG Pump Solutions and Techni – PG-MAPS®;
• REELWELL AS – Reelwell – Multi Gradient System;
• SBM OFFSHORE NV – High Voltage Electric AC Swivel;
• SBM OFFSHORE NV – COOL® HOSE;
• Schilling Robotics, LLC – Heavy-Duty ROV;
• Schlumberger – Dielectric Scanner® Multifrequency Dielectric Dispersion Service;
• Schlumberger – SonicScope® Multipole Sonic-While-Drilling Service;
• Twin Filter BV. – Dynamic Centrifugal Coalescer; and
• Weatherford International Ltd. – Deepwater Closed-Loop Drilling System.

Breakfasts And Luncheons
Topical breakfasts and luncheons are offered throughout the event. Organized by OTC and the U.S. Department of Commerce, these events offer expert views on doing business in emerging areas of interest for the oil and gas industry such as Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Russia. Topical breakfast tickets are $40 each and luncheon tickets are $50 each.

Online Registration
OTC Attendees may register on-site and online. For information, visit, www.otcnet.org.