Front-row seat
An American Bureau of Shipping executive talks about the offshore changes he’s seen over 30 years.
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have attended the Offshore Technology Conference over the past 50 years. Some who made the trip this year reflected on their past experiences, while others made memories for the first time.
Lean times, good times
Every other year since 1984, Kjetil Stuland, an International Energy Agency official from Norway, makes it to the convention floor. He understands that changes in the event’s size reflect the state of the oil market.
Stuland, 67, recalls a couple of low turns through the years, but nothing like 1987, when the industry was still recovering from a severe oil bust. He recalled oil was running about $10 a barrel and the conference’s Astrodome venue was only half full. That changed substantially when he came back in 1989.
“To see the change in industry over these three years, that was amazing,” Stuland said. “Both the technology and the number of people coming here (was better). The companies had survived these very tough years. Also, the chance to see how, not only the conference, but the companies are coming back and prospering.”
At OTC, Stuland is usually looking to meet people, exchange business cards and network. Some things never change.
Rebuilding Libya
Naser Dakhil attended his first OTC in 2007 and returned every year through 2011. Then the Libyan civil war broke out.
Dakhil, a native of Libya and an engineer for the oil field services company GASOS Libya, returned to OTC for the first time in nine years. Dakhil, who lives in Lynnwood, Wash., said he is hoping to restart business partnerships that were interrupted by the war, which stalled oil production and projects, and will help rebuild the nation’s energy infrastructure.
Dakhil had another reason for coming to OTC. He hoped to introduce a new generation to the oil and gas industry, namely his son, Suhaib, who recently graduated from college with a degree in mechanical engineering.
“I’m trying to get him to carry on,” Dakhil said.
‘Walking around smiling’
Sybil Oyeagoro, a Houston resident, put off coming to OTC for years. She finally made it for the 50th.
Oyeagoro said she wasn’t disappointed, impressed by the vast number of companies, booths and exhibits. Her goal: find a new job.
Oyeagoro is on a yearlong leave from offshore production at Shell and is seeking work onshore so she can be close to her four children.
“I’m trying to make connections with people, just to see what is out there,” she said.
In the meantime, she is enjoying the spectacle of OTC.
“I’m just walking around smiling, seeing all these companies,” Oyeagoro said. “Everybody having something set up is wonderful.”
She made it a point to stop by the booth of engineering and construction giant KBR, since she often drives past the company’s Houston headquarters. There, she told the amused KBR exhibitors that her kids often confuse the company’s acronym with the KGB, the old Soviet secret police.