Scottish oil and gas firms are arriving in force in Stavanger today for the start of this year’s “bigger than ever” Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) conference.
The show, held every other year, is expected to attract about 50,000 visitors from all over the world between today and Friday.
This will be in addition to around 1,300 companies exhibiting at the event, including north-east businesses and the Aberdeen city and shire councils.
Jon Rortveit, vice-president at the ONS Foundation, said: “From the looks of it, we are going to be bigger than ever before in terms of visitors.
“We have never seen demand for visitors, exhibitor spaces and pretty much everything like this before.”
The conference at this year’s event has been pitched as “confronting energy paradoxes”, with speakers including Shell chief executive Peter Voser.
ONS has also launched a summit for this year’s show, which started yesterday and will focus on energy-related geopolitical issues, from Arctic exploration to political upheaval in the Middle East.
The show’s Renewable Energy Park has also been doubled, compared to when ONS was last held in 2010.
The sister event to Offshore Europe, in Aberdeen, also includes the ONS Festival, held over three nights at Stavanger’s harbourside. Aberdeen city and shire will be present on Scottish Development International’s Scottish Pavilion and will also be hosting at the festival.
Aberdeenshire Provost Jill Webster said: “This event has proved a great platform in previous years for Aberdeen city and shire to showcase on a world stage what the region has to offer, both in terms of being a key hub for the energy sector and in quality of life.”
Inverurie-based Paradigm Flow Services will be showcasing its topsides and subsea-blockage remediation technology at the show.
Managing director Rob Bain said: “ONS is an important event for us as we introduce our technologies to the Norwegian offshore industry. We see ONS as an ideal opportunity to build relationships in this key market and share our learning experiences from recent projects in the UK, US and west Africa.
“The event is a perfect platform for businesses in the north-east to gain exposure in this international market and showcase their services to Norwegian oil and gas companies.”
Engineering firm Wilton Group, which employs about 800 people in Aberdeen, Dundee and bases in England and Brazil, is also exhibiting at ONS.
Des Hatfield, its Aberdeen-based business-development director, said: “ONS offers us the opportunity to highlight our in-house capabilities, experience and resources to key audience in a variety of markets.”
An oil and gas service firm specialising in radio frequency identification (RFID) is launching a new range of products at Offshore Northern Seas today.
Inverurie-based Arnlea Systems is launching a new range of Atex-certified RFID tags, designed specifically for use in hazardous areas on facilities including floating production vessels, drilling rigs and offshore platforms.
They can be scanned to identify particular pieces of equipment for monitoring or data management.
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