‘Truly the best ONS ever’, Stavanger conference tops pre-pandemic numbers 

Offshore Northern Seas (ONS), the Stavanger energy conference, has come to a close as it celebrates growth beyond pre-pandemic attendance figures.

ONS chief executive and president, Leif Johan Sevland, commented: “It is truly the best ONS ever.

“I couldn’t be more grateful to our team, our partners and the all the contributors that have made this possible.”

The show welcomed 71,812 people from all over the world to the Norwegian city as over 1,100 companies were represented.

This year marks 50 years since the first ONS conference and Sevland said it was an “honour” to celebrate the occasion.

Next year ONS’ sister event Offshore Europe will be held in Aberdeen. When asked if ONS will be in attendance, a spokesperson said: “Yes, we are coming!”

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The 2022 version of the biannual event failed to beat its pre-pandemic attendance figures, as 61,000 people attended compared to 68,000 in 2018.

The ebullient ONS president also described 2022’s event as the “Best ONS ever” however ahead of this year’s industry meet up, he predicted in Energy Voice “ONS 2024 will be even better.”

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CEO of the Norwegian state-owned energy firm Equinor, Anders Opedal, was in attendance alongside Patrick Pouyanné, boss of the French supermajor TotalEnergies and many others.

Both Pouyanné and Opedal met with the crown prince of Norway as he and Sevland walked the show floor and met with industry.

ONS has shared that more than 1,000 delegates attended the conference opening on Monday morning.

Environmental campaigners critical of the industry including Greta Thunberg also made their presence felt.

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In addition to this, the conference brought record numbers of people to the Stavanger city centre.

The highest level of mobile phones registered in the downtown/bay area of Stavanger was recorded on Wednesday night at over 22,000 during the ONS Concert.

Norwegian pop star Dagny performed on Wednesday night as industry representatives from around the globe and local families gathered to watch her sing.