Exhibitors fill hall for oil, gas expo
Optimizing results and minimizing hazards by using customized programs are all good things for oil and gas operators in Oklahoma.
The gear and technology enabling them to achieve those goals and others were displayed Thursday at the 22nd annual Oil and Gas Expo.
The event, held at the Bennett Event Center at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, featured more than 300 vendors showing off their equipment and technologies to more than 4,000 expected guests from oil and gas companies throughout the state.
Products at the event ranged from valves and other types of controls to tanks, and from fire retardant clothing to large pumping units.
Other firms showed off highly advanced equipment and software aiming to help
oil and gas companies save time and money.
Technology continues to be the star attraction, said Mindy Stitt, executive director of Oklahoma Energy Resources Board and the Committee for Sustaining Oklahoma’s Energy Resources, organizations that have hosted the event since 2013.
“These younger people who are really savvy in technology are bringing their wares to the industry,” Stitt said.
“Our attendees are loving it. They are learning a lot, and enjoying some of the new displays we have this year. People are going down every aisle.”
One vendor at the show, AllTerra Central, certainly fell into a high-tech category at the event.
Two of its representatives spent the day showing off its surveying, mapping and inspection technology to expo visitors.
Billy Musick, who is involved in geospatial sales for the firm, said oil and gas operators and contractors who build pipelines can save time by using his firm’s automated surveying, mapping and inspection gear and software.
He said the survey gear offered by AllTerra Central uses lidar, which is a detection system that works on the principle of radar, but uses laser light to collect data programming forms into 3-D models of both outside and inside spaces.
“Some of what we are showing here today is new technology,” Musick said.
AllTerra Central also offers multirotor, unmanned aerial vehicles that not only do surveying and mapping, but also can detect methane leaks when properly equipped.
Musick said his firm enjoys exhibiting at the event.
“It is a great networking
opportunity for us to connect with the people who use our types of equipment,” he said.
Willis Rinehart, a representative for exhibitor Elite Tank, said Thursday he also appreciated opportunities he gets to connect with potential customers at the event.
“I have done trade shows all over, and this is probably one of the best ones I’ve done ... because of the people who are here,” he said. “It draws more people, and that generates more leads.”
One show vendor on Thursday, Hawkiiii, is a Canadian firm that offers wireless sensor technologies used to monitor well production pumps and other related equipment.
Janelle Watson, who works to develop business leads for the firm, said this year’s expo was its first.
“We’ve actually learned a lot about the industry here in Oklahoma, so we have gathered some market intelligence while we were here,” Watson said.
“People are now embracing technologies. They want these digital devices to enhance their production and operations,” she said.