Scottish delegates at the world’s top oil and gas show held in the US are starting to arrive home after another successful visit to Texas.
The four-day Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, which attracted more than 70,000 people from 100-plus countries, concluded yesterday.
Susan Cunningham, chairwoman of the conference, said OTC 2010 had gone well, with an attendance well ahead of last year.
She said last month’s Gulf of Mexico tragedy had put a dampener on the mood, adding: “There is still excitement at the show, but a different kind. Everyone is talking about the rig incident and there is definitely a higher focus on safety.”
Oil has been gushing into the sea at a rate of at least 200,000 gallons a day since an offshore drilling rig exploded and killed 11 people.
The chairwoman added: “This event reminds us of the risks and challenges in offshore oil and gas development. We don’t know how this will impact on the industry, but we do know the world needs energy.”
About 330 people were on the annual OTC trip organised by Munro’s Travel Group, of Aberdeen, and the Press and Journal.
Numerous oil service companies from Scotland were at the show, with a wide variety of support businesses including banks, law firms and accountants.
Aberdeen’s Balmoral Offshore Engineering said this OTC had been one of its best yet. Chairman and managing director Jim Milne said: “Our stand was constantly busy and we received many new inquiries as well as meeting some old friends.
“It was interesting to note that significantly more international delegates were at the show compared to last year when the swine flu prevented many travelling.
“We look forward to following up the leads generated, which came from as far afield as Singapore, Brazil, Argentina and Australia as well as the Gulf of Mexico, of course.”
Ian Couper, chief executive of North Scotland Industries Group, said: “This has been a very good show for us once again.
“We have been able to build our existing relationships with Dutch and Danish organisations and expect those to lead to a three-way networking event in the North later this year. Our meetings at OTC have also provided plenty of scope to consider trade missions or exhibitions in the Middle East, Brazil, Mexico and Louisiana and we will be putting these opportunities to our members when we return home.”
Well flow-management specialist Expro said the show had provided an excellent platform to highlight investment it had continued to make in technology development. Aberdeen-based chief operating officer Chris Mawtus said: “OTC has allowed Expro to showcase some of the new and emerging technologies that can assist our customers across the life cycle of their wells.”
Mhairi Preston, a director of Aberdeen-based LA Recruitment, said: “This is the fifth year in a row we have exhibited at OTC and 2010 has been one of the most promising shows for us for potential new business, with numerous leads being generated from a sustained number of quality visitors to our stand across the four days.”
Douglas Craig, managing director of Aberdeen-based Craig Group, said: “Attending and exhibiting at OTC is always an important part of our international marketing and this year’s show has been a tremendous success.
“We have had a number of sound inquiries which we expect will result in some major contracts going forward.”
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