ST Conference Review

Offshore Energy 2011, which took place October 23 to 24 in the Amsterdam RAI venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands, attracted more than 5,100 unique visitors, up from 4,000 visitors in 2010.

Attending the event were visitors from more than 30 countries, including Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Italy, the United States, China, Australia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates and Ghana.


Business Exhibition
The conference exhibition, taking place on more than 8,000 square meters of floor space, focused on the offshore oil, gas and wind industries, along with related products and services. This year's event featured 292 companies, up from 231 last year.

The number of exhibition visitors grew 21 percent compared to 2010, organizers said, with nearly 3,000 attending the exhibition on the first day. This year was also the first time the exhibition was two days long.

Organizers said attendees and exhibitors forged business relationships, networked over drinks and signed several contracts.


Conference Program
This year's program brought together more than 300 offshore professionals who networked, forged new relations and discussed topics with the 50 speakers, organizers said.

The program featured speakers represented the entire offshore energy supply chain. The conferences, topical sessions and side events covered a broad range of issues, including global energy demand and supply, drivers for investments, developments in deepwater, innovations to extend the lifetime of North Sea plays and developments in renewable offshore energy.

Organizers said that because the conferences each consisted of a half-day program and the short topical sessions took about 90 minutes each, conference attendees had time to visit the exhibition.

Conference organizer Navingo BV said it has received positive feedback from visitors and exhibitors about Offshore Energy 2011.

"Many exhibitors and visitors mentioned the spacious setup and professional atmosphere of the exhibition in the Amsterdam RAI as key success factors of this fourth edition," said Annemieke den Otter, Offshore Energy exhibition manager. "The move to Amsterdam definitely contributed to this. I have heard rumors of companies that weren't present as exhibitors this year but are very interested to exhibit next year."

Offshore Energy 2012 will take place next October 23 and 24 in the same venue.