OEEC 2018: Keep Exploring, Keep Inspiring, Keep Transforming

Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference (OEEC) 2018 brought together 550 exhibitors and over 10,000 unique visitors in halls 1, 2 & 3 of Amsterdam RAI. The conference and side events attracted over 1,000 delegates. The next Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference takes place on 7, 8 and 9 October 2019.

Offshore Energy 2018 kicked off with a memorable Opening Gala Dinner and Awards Show at the National Maritime Museum. Bart van de Leemput, Executive Vice President Upstream Operated Ventures, Shell gave a dinner speech. “How can we build on our experience in oil and gas? What is there to be explored?” asked Van de Leemput. “We need to go into unknown territories and discover what we can bring for the next phase in energy.”

The hunger for discovery, change and invention that Van de Leemput addressed at the Opening Gala Dinner was felt throughout the exhibition and conference, with exhibitors showcasing their latest innovations and speakers offering their analyses and ideas. Another recurring theme was the inspiration of people, both to attract them to the industry and to retain them in the industry.

“We look back on another successful Offshore Energy,” said Annemieke den Otter, Offshore Energy Exhibition Manager. “In addition to what we organized on our own, we received again more international delegations and hosted more side events by partners. We are grateful and proud to be chosen as the place to organize business and networking events.”

The 11th Offshore Energy was visited by professionals up and down the oil and gas, and renewables value chain. From independent and international oil and gas companies to OEMs, EPC contractors, and suppliers, from senior executives to young professionals and students, they were all there and felt part of the Offshore Energy community.

The three Offshore Energy Awards were presented during the Opening Gala Dinner and Awards Show. A special congratulation to the award winners: Marius Ottolini (winner of the Offshore Energy Young Engineer Award), Buccaneer Delft (winner of the Offshore Energy Public Outreach Award) and OASYS – ECE Offshore B.V. (winner of the Best Innovation in Offshore Energy Award).

“The three Awards recognize the great work that is being done and all three award recipients play a part in the transformation of our industry. By bringing people together during the three days of Offshore Energy, we will continue to contribute to the transformation both within the conventional oil and gas industry as well as in the renewables energy – wind and marine – part of the industry,” Den Otter said.

Exhibition

Of the 550 exhibitors, over 25% were international. In addition to the exhibiting companies and the exhibition, there were recurring features on the floor including the Startup Zone, Offshore Energy Expertise Hub and Community Square with as much as nine talk-shows. For the first time and certainly not the last time at the exhibition were the Young Professional Hub, the International Trade Missions Lounge and The Stage, where delegates from OEEC’s incoming missions (amongst other; Kazakhstan, Qatar, Brazil, Japan, UK and France, ambassadors and politicians came together to meet up with the industry.

Conference

The nine Offshore Energy thematic sessions addressed the full life-cycle in the oil and gas and energy industry, starting with Exploration in a mature basin on Tuesday morning and ending with Decommissioning and re-use on Wednesday afternoon. There were also sessions on offshore wind operations and maintenance, subsea cables and corporate responsibility. The Gas and Oil keynotes addressed global developments in the gas and oil markets respectively, including developments on decarbonization in the industry and alternative fuels. The Offshore Wind Conference focused on the next phase in the offshore wind industry, in particular on sustaining energy security in a system with an increased share of intermittent renewables. The Marine Energy Event addressed the latest developments in wave, tidal and ocean thermal energy. There were several side events including a decommissioning hackathon organized by the National platform for decommissioning and re-use Nexstep.

Offshore Energy 2019
The next Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference takes place on 7, 8 and 9 October 2019. Information on next year’s event will be published online on www.offshore-energy.biz.

Source: Navingo BV