Europe’s biggest subsea event, the Subsea ’09 conference and exhibition, will focus firmly on protecting investment, innovation and cross-industry collaboration in helping to exploit the potential of the UK Continental Shelf.
The sixth annual event is expected to attract more than 2,000 visitors and more than 100 exhibitors from around the globe to Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on February 11 and 12.
Delegates will hear presentations from PetroCanada, Triton Group, which sponsors the event, Subsea 7, Simmons International, Technip, Douglas Westwood, Expro Group, SPT Group, MCS and Schlumberger Subsea Surveillance among others.
A panel discussion will be chaired by Paul Mason, economics editor of BBC2’s flagship current affairs programme Newsnight.
Subsea UK chief executive Alistair Birnie said: “The North Sea remains full of potential and it has a long and healthy life ahead of it. Subsea production continues to grow in importance and in value with strong and sustained growth.
“In addition to the long-term players, a significant number of new entrants to the region have emerged, and have taken with them innovative ideas and business models to secure additional production and stimulate new subsea field developments.
“Their investment is not only in terms of financial commitment. New types of business relationships, field development and operating methods and, importantly, investment in new technologies have already had an impact and will continue to do so.
“We need to consider different ways of exploiting these resources and look at both the experiences from other parts of the world and the emerging technologies that have been developed for deepwater or challenging field conditions in order to best exploit the potential the UK Continental Shelf has to offer.”
Pupils from throughout Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire will also be visiting the exhibition to find out about the sector, how exciting the developing technology is and the range of careers open to them.
The Subsea UK Business Awards Dinner, sponsored by Technip, will take place on February 11 to recognise the hard work of both organisations and individuals involved in all aspects of the subsea industry. The categories are Best New Company, Best Young Personality of the Year, Subsea Company of the Year and Greatest Individual Contribution to the subsea industry.