NOIA conference starts today in St. John’s

Three-day event begins with keynote address from Premier Dwight Ball

The Newfoundland and Labrador Oil & Gas Industries Association’s (Noia) 33rd annual conference gets underway in earnest today in St. John’s.

This year’s event is themed Offshore Newfoundland: Relevant, Untapped and Resilient, and will provide more than 1,000 delegates with networking opportunities and updates on exploration, production and development.

In a statement, Sean Power, chairman of this year’s conference committee, said despite the price of oil being lower for a longer time than was forecast, the Eastern Canadian industry remains buoyant, and this year’s event “will deliver a robust program of timely information and insights from leading industry stakeholders and experts.”

Premier Dwight Ball will offer a keynote address to kick off the first day of the three-day conference at the St. John’s Convention Centre, and National Post columnist and news commentator Rex Murphy will present the luncheon keynote address.

Other speakers on Monday include Barry Munro from Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate, Nalcor Energy executive vice-president of corporate services and offshore development Jim Keating, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers president and CEO Tim Mcmillan, Husky Energy senior vice-president Atlantic region Malcolm Maclean and Steve Bonnell from Amex Foster Wheeler.

The conference continues Wednesday and Thursday and concludes with a speech by former premier Brian Peckford.