Energy Minister to attend opening day of Europe’s largest annual subsea conference and exhibition

Scottish energy minister, Paul Wheelhouse will attend Subsea UK’s annual flagship event in Aberdeen this week, where industry experts will gather to explore why disruptive and enabling technologies hold the key to greater levels of transparency, efficiency, and performance.



More than 5,000 people are set to descend on the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre from 5-7 February when Subsea Expo 2019, Europe’s largest, annual subsea conference and exhibition returns. Pre-registrations are currently up by 19% on last year and more than 170 organisations from across Europe, the US, and Japan are expected to showcase their products and services.

With this year’s theme - ‘Innovating the Future’ – the event aims to stimulate high-level discussions on subsea technology and the rise of digitalisation, looking at how they are accelerating the ability to deliver sustainable energy and achieve operational efficiency.

The 2019 programme is packed with high profile industry speakers from a number of leading companies including One Subsea, Haliburton, SubC Imaging, STATS Group, and Tracerco. Presentations will cover a range of topics including digital transformation, ROVs and AUVs, life extension, decommissioning, global opportunities, construction and intervention, marginal fields and IRM.

The event’s plenary session, chaired by Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK, will provide an overview of the industry and stimulate debate with presentations from Alasdair MacDonald of Subsea North East, Colette Cohen, CEO of the OGTC, John Mahon, director general for exports at the Department for International Trade, Mike Beveridge, managing director of Simmons Energy, and Stuart Payne, director of HR and supply chain at the OGA.

Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK, said: “Over the past few years, the word innovation has been talked about, but not put into practice, as cost-cutting has been the main focus. The challenge we now face is increasing efficiency in oil and gas, as we grow and move into other sectors, and how we take the underwater supply chain with us.

We have 40 years of infrastructure which was born long before the digital revolution, so big changes aren’t going to happen overnight. It will be a slow and steady evolution, but we have to understand how the industry is going to move forward and how everyone will play their part.

If we want to maintain our world leading position and create a stronger, more sustainable offshore market, we must work together, and drive positive change for good. We hope this year’s Expo will encourage high-level discussions on how we accelerate the delivery of sustainable energy and even greater operational efficiency.”

On the final day of Expo, a “Revitalising the UKCS” conference session will explore the opportunities and challenges around new and marginal fields so that the estimated 7.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (bnboe) in discoveries awaiting development plans can be recovered and further activity in the basin stimulated.

Sponsored by the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA), in collaboration with Subsea UK, the Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) and the National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI) the session will see a panel of operators, suppliers, industry experts and government officials debate the barriers and the potential solutions for the recovery of remaining resources.

Subsea Expo’s gala dinner and awards ceremony, on the evening of February 6th, will see a selection of the country’s most innovative, dynamic and successful subsea businesses recognised for their success over the past twelve months. Former CEO of Dyson, Martin McCourt will be the guest speaker at the awards dinner, where he will discuss how he led the business from niche vacuum cleaner maker to a global brand with an extensive product line.

Companies will also get the opportunity to connect with the ‘subsea leaders of tomorrow’, when a host of schools and universities visit the exhibition on Thursday (7 February). OPITO will once again be running its Energise Your Future event which will see more than 100 students learn about the exciting and diverse careers in the sector.

Sponsors of the 14th annual Subsea Expo event include Rovco, Baker Hughes GE, Helix, Subsea 7 and EC-OG.

Entrance to the exhibition and conference is free of charge. To avoid queues, pre-registration is recommended
here.

For more information, please visit: www.subseaexpo.com

Location: Aberdeen, Scotland, UK