NELL LUKOSAVICH, Senior Editor
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| Attendees at Offshore Europe 2009 view a model of a subsea field development project. |
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Following the movement of offshore exploration in the North Sea and elsewhere around the world, one of Europe’s premier oil and gas shows is reaching for deeper water. With a new exhibit space and discussion sessions focused on deepwater technology, as well as pavilions dedicated to presalt development in Brazil and the latest technology in remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the 2011 Offshore Europe Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition aims to extend the operating capability of offshore operators.
The biennial conference, organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), focuses primarily on exploration and production in the North Sea, whose harsh environment, mature fields and strict regulatory requirements create myriad technical challenges for oil and gas operators. This year’s show, themed “Securing safe, smart, sustainable supply,” will be held Sept. 6–8 at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre in Aberdeen, Scotland. The opening plenary session, titled “Managing complexity” will be led by conference chairman Samir Brikho, chief executive of the engineering consultancy Amec. Aside from the technical program, OE 2011 will also include a series of breakfast and lunch forums, SPE training courses and 19 international pavilions. Both the exhibition and conference events are offered at no cost to all attendees, who can register for a free badge online.
Offshore Europe 2009, also held in Aberdeen, was a record-breaking event, drawing more than 49,000 attendees from 94 different countries, 20% more than the previous record show in 2007. OE 2009 featured more than 1,500 exhibiting companies, including 330 companies participating at the show for the first time.
Deep Water Zone. OE 2011 will debut a new exhibit area, called the Deep Water Zone, to promote the role of the deep-
water sector in the future of the oil and gas industry. The new exhibit area will highlight the status of deepwater operations as a major platform in the growth strategies of the world’s oil and gas players, whose global capital expenditures on deepwater projects are forecast to total $167 billion between now and 2015.
The Deep Water Zone will be the venue for deepwater-focused technical sessions within the general technical program. One technical session, organized by the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE), will be devoted entirely to deepwater exploration, with presentations on petroleum geology in the UK West of Shetland area, geohazards for deepwater drilling, and advances in seismic bandwidth for higher-resolution subsurface images. Other deepwater-focused sessions will be led by the Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute (IBP), SPE and the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT).
The Deep Water Zone will also feature several showcase areas that will display some of the most advanced subsea, seabed and floating production hardware and expertise being utilized in frontier projects around the world. Case studies to be featured in the display area include the frontier Laggan-Tormore project in the West of Shetland area of the UK North Sea, which is being developed by Total via an innovative subsea-to-shore scheme.
The Brazil Pavilion, organized by IBP, will introduce conference-goers to key manufacturers and suppliers in the rapidly expanding Brazilian deepwater industry. Another pavilion is dedicated to new technologies and methods in the use of unmanned remote and autonomous vehicles.
Breakfast briefings and topical lunches. This year’s conference will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6, with the first breakfast briefing, titled “Securing safe, smart, sustainable supply”—the same as the overall 2011 conference theme. The briefing will be a panel discussion chaired by Bob Ruddiman, head of the energy division of the UK-based law firm McGrigors, and including speakers such as BP Regional President Trevor Garlick. The speakers will explore the role of developing technologies in finding and securing a sustainable energy mix.
The Wednesday, Sept. 7, breakfast briefing, also beginning at 7:30, is titled “Leadership challenges in tackling hydrocarbon releases.” Brian Kraus of Environmental Resource Management, Eric Sirgo of Chevron North Sea and Steve Walker of the UK watchdog group Health and Safety Executive will discuss the steps operators must take to improve performance in health, safety and environmental issues, as well as implications of the Step Change in Safety industry initiative on the UK continental shelf.
The third briefing, titled “Deepwater offshore project,” will be held at 7:30 on Thursday morning. Led by Petrobras Executive Manager Tuerte Amaral Rolim and BG Group’s VP of projects, Nick Lyford, the discussion will focus on Petrobras’ new apporach to designing and implementing giant E&P projects. Deepwater projects account for a major source of new production and huge investments, especially in Brazil’s presalt fields. The speakers will highlight opportunities for suppliers and service and engineering companies already installed in the Brazilian market and for newcomers. They will also address the main technological and commercial challenges to development of Brazil’s presalt resources.
OE 2011 will feature three topical lunches, held 1–2:30 p.m. on each day of the show. The first luncheon, titled “A view of the industry,” will be presented by Schlumberger CEO Andrew Gould. The second luncheon will focus on decommissioning, and the third on low-carbon growth strategies in Europe and the UK.
SPE training courses. Four SPE training courses will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 5—the day before OE 2011 begins. The first course, on modern well design, is a two-day session that lasts through Sept. 6. The other three one-day courses will cover techniques, drilling fluid systems and reservoir studies for underbalanced drilling; offshore and onshore oil spill prevention, control and countermeasures; and the geological sequestration of CO2.
Technical program. This year’s technical program will feature 19 different categories, with more than 120 technical presentations throughout the three-day conference. Highlighted topics include advanced drilling technology, reservoir management, life extension of installations, oil spill prevention and response, process safety, FPSOs, the changing role of national oil companies, advanced well architecture and carbon reduction.
The first session on Tuesday, Sept. 6, is “Aging and life extension of installations” and is particularly relevant to operations in the North Sea. The session will provide an overview of the business case for extending the life of offshore oil and gas installations, including the management of assets producing from mature fields in the North Sea. Other sessions, such as “Industry oil spill prevention and response capabilities,” will focus on the substantial issues raised by the 2010 Macondo disaster and how they were tackled by the industry and its regulators. 
| Offshore Europe 2011 conference sessions |
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