A former head of BP has been lined up to speak at an annual offshore energy conference in the east of England.
Lord Browne will speak alongside industry leaders from across the energy sectors at the Southern North Sea Conference, SNS2012, run by the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR).
The event has been billed as being the biggest in its history.
Lord Browne, now a partner of Riverstone Holdings, said: “The Southern North Sea is blessed with some of the best energy resources in the world: natural gas, wind and wave.
“But the crunch question is what we can do, whether in business, government, or education, to make the most of that resource. We cannot afford to get it wrong.”
Industry speakers lined up alongside Lord Browne include Paul Jeffs, head of production operations for RWE; Peter Giller, director of German windfarm developers WindMW; Oliver Kleyn, from Shell Projects; Keith Tucker, decommissioning manager for Perenco; and Dr Rainer Mohr, of REpower Systems, turbine manufacturers.
John Westwood, group chairman of international energy business advisors Douglas-Westwood, will set the scene before chairing the conference.
SNS2012 has nearly double the capacity of the three previous sell-out events with 340 delegates expected at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, on Thursday, March 1.
There will also be an inaugural exhibition featuring companies from across the supply chain.
EEEGR executive director Celia Anderson said: “It is the biggest conference we have ever staged and reflects the rapidly growing interest for business and investment opportunities in the east of England. We have developed to embrace that international as well as regional significance.”
The event will also include the chance for delegates to meet buyers from major companies with specific energy projects in gas and offshore wind, among them SSE, Perenco, Offshore Marine Management, Petrofac, Jacobs Engineering and EAOW (East Anglia Offshore Wind), the team behind a multimillion-pound venture off the Norfolk coast.
The annual Energy Innovation Awards and gala dinner will again be staged on the evening before the conference, at the Holiday Inn, Norwich International Airport, on Wednesday, February 29.