Offshore Europe Conference, exhibition opens in northeastern Scotland

The Offshore Europe Conference and Exhibition opened on Tuesday in Aberdeen city in northeastern Scotland to tackle the industry future with the theme of "The Next 50 Years". More than 1,500 exhibitors with around 50,000 delegates gathered at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center, including senior representatives from the global industry, the British and international governments and academia who came together to lead the debates during the four-day conference. The selected theme represents the continuing success story for the British oil and gas industry both in terms of future production and a strong supply chain. The capital investment in the North Sea this year will reach a record 13.5 billion pounds (about 21 billion U.S. dollars), as the development of a number of large offshore fields continues and spending on other smaller discoveries are fuelled by new field allowances, according to the pan-industry trade body Oil and Gas UK forecast in August. A separate survey by Barclays also shows that 65 percent of companies are anticipating an increase in capital expenditure over the next two years, with more than 60 percent predicting an increase over a five-year period. Organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), this year's event attracted a large international exhibitor presence with participating companies from 37 countries and 33 international pavilions, said the official press release. Countries spanning the continents from the Americas and Africa to Asia and Australia are represented, with pavilions from South Korea, Denmark and Australia being included for the first time, it added. The exhibition runs alongside a conference with 11 keynote sessions, over 100 technical papers and ePosters, and daily breakfast briefings and topical luncheons.