2013 Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition

ROGER JORDAN, Associate Editor

LAGCOE 2011 was attended by 14,000 delegates (photo courtesy of LAGCOE).

LAGCOE may have begun life as an exposition focusing primarily on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, but now it is one of the largest petroleum industry conferences in the U.S., drawing visitors from across the globe. LAGCOE’s exhibits and technical sessions are wide-ranging. They address everything from conventional onshore and offshore activity, to frontier and emerging plays, like the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, and unconventional resources. The exposition’s keynote speeches will be delivered by representatives from Chevron and Cheniere Energy. And, as always, this year’s exposition will give delegates the chance to see a broad spectrum of state-of the-art equipment, services and technologies.

Jason French, director, Government and Public Affairs, Cheniere Energy (photo courtesy of LAGCOE).

Steve Thurston, V.P. of Deepwater Exploration & Projects, Chevron North America E&P Co. (photo courtesy of LAGCOE).

KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

The conference will feature two keynote presentations. The opening day’s keynote will be delivered by Steve Thurston of Chevron North America E&P. In his presentation, Mr. Thurston, V.P. of Deepwater Exploration and Projects, will update delegates on “the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and the Lower Tertiary trend.”

Mr. Thurston has held a variety of leadership positions throughout his career with Chevron since 1982, including exploration supervisor for all of California’s coastal basins, exploration supervisor for the Gulf of Mexico shelf, and profit center manager for the eastern Gulf of Mexico. More recently, Mr. Thurston served as country manager for Chevron upstream in Brazil, and as general manager of Strategic Planning for Chevron Corporation before starting his current assignment on Jan. 1, 2008.

The keynote speech on the conference’s second day is to be delivered by Jason French of Cheniere Energy, Inc. During his talk, Mr. French, director, Government and Public Affairs, will talk about the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. Cheniere Energy has initiated a project to install liquefaction services at the Sabine Pass LNG receiving terminal in Cameron Parish, La. In this presentation, Mr. French will explain what the terminal “means for our state and industry.”

Mr. French joined Cheniere Energy in November 2011. Prior to joining Cheniere, Mr. French was director of Government and Public Affairs for BP America, where he held several key public affairs roles during the Deepwater Horizon Spill Response. These roles included chief PIO/liaison at the Incident Command Center and external affairs lead in Grand Isle, La.

TECHNICAL/INTERNATIONAL PRESENTATIONS

LAGCOE will devote one of its technical sessions to recognizing the extraordinary new technologies that have been developed by industry. The “Spotlight on New Technology” session, which will take place on Oct. 23, recognizes companies with revolutionary technologies that advance the process of discovering, and producing, oil and natural gas.

The winners were announced by LAGCOE last month, and during this session, attendees will have the opportunity to hear the winners deliver 10-min. overviews of their innovations. The winning technologies were reviewed by a panel of judges, who evaluated submissions based on the five criteria of new, innovative, proven, broad interest and significant impact. The winners who will present are:

• 5D Oilfield Magnetics — Open Hole Net
• Baker Hughes — FASTrak LWD Fluid Analysis Sampling and Testing Services
• Baker Hughes — SC-XP Extreme Performance Frac Pack and Gravel Pack Tool System
• E&B Green Solutions — G–Clean Products
• Hickman Sales & Service — Stable Data System
• Newpark Mats and Integrated Services —DURA-BASE Advanced Composite Mats
• Zahroof Valves — ZPV High-Efficiency Modular Valves For Gas Gathering and Distribution Applications.
• The conference will also feature a number of other technical presentations and panel sessions. These will include topics as diverse as:
• Recommended practice for shale and gas risk management 
• Decommissioning process optimization—application of new technologies
• GOM regulatory and permit requirements post-Macondo.

International scope. The conference will also afford delegates a unique opportunity to gain insight into overseas business opportunities. Attendees will have the opportunity to attend a number of international presentations about a variety of countries, both near and far. The presentations, which will be held throughout the first two days of the conference, will cover countries as geographically disparate as Canada, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore, Angola, India, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. A sample of some of the topics slated for discussion includes:

• Doing Business in Canada: The Importance of Supplier Diversity
• The Brazilian Oil & Gas Industry: Challenges and Opportunities–Partnering With Brazilian Machinery Suppliers to be More Competitive
• Malaysia’s Oil & Gas Industry: Opportunities, Facilities and Government Assistance.
• The conference’s opening day will also feature a briefing session for international visitors. The session will afford international delegates an opportunity to learn what “Louisiana and Lafayette can offer.”

WHAT’S NEW AT LAGCOE 2013

Exhibits at LAGCOE 2011 (photo courtesy of LAGCOE).

LAGCOE 2013 will also feature the exhibition’s inaugural career fair on its final day. Current and future oil and gas professionals will have the opportunity to interact with human resource personnel and hiring managers. Some of the companies that will be participating in the career fair include Louisiana CAT, Weatherford, Wood Group and Sparrows Offshore.

The exposition has also established the LAGCOE Education Fund, a fund at Community Foundation of Acadiana. Donations to the fund will be used to expand LAGCOE’s organizational purpose of  “fostering public education of the function and services of the oil industry, for promotion of the oil industry as a whole, and for encouragement of, and retention of, the oil industry in the Louisiana area.”