The old saying goes: “Everything is bigger in Texas” and that was certainly true at OTC this week.
The size of the crowds had to be seen to be believed.
The show site is massive and can usually swallow up visitor numbers with ease.
But not this time around. Most of the time, the aisles were so packed with people it was difficult to move at more than a snail’s pace.
A short trip between two stands that should take five minutes became a 20min haul.
The oil and gas industry is booming at the moment and you could feel the confidence among those attending OTC.
The Scottish delegates met plenty of old business contacts and made numerous new ones. Lots of contracts will undoubtedly follow in the months ahead from brief chats at the Scottish stands.
It was great to see Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing making the time to be at the show. His presence gave everyone on the Scottish stands a boost.
It was disappointing, though, that UK Energy Minister Michael Fallon was absent.
The Department of Energy’s defence that ministers have been there in the past is quite frankly not good enough. Oil and gas is the best-performing industry in the UK and it deserves top-level support at every opportunity.
The importance of OTC and Houston to Scottish firms is obvious by how many make the 4,000-plus mile trek to the world oil capital.
The annual visit to the show organised by Aberdeen-based Munro’s Travel Group and the Press and Journal has now been going for 40 years.
There are so many familiar faces around in the Hilton Houston Post Oak hotel of an evening it is sometimes hard to believe you are so far from home.
One home comfort the Scottish delegates like is their daily Press and Journal. A long-standing link-up with British Airways means the P&Js are flown every morning from Aberdeen to Heathrow and then on to Houston.
Finally, a special mention must go to Jack Burnett, senior partner with Munro’s. Mr Burnett, 74, has been on the OTC trip each and every year for four decades; it would be good if UK energy ministers were to take a leaf out of Jack’s book.