Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference 2016: Where Renewables Met Oil & Gas

With 667 exhibitors, 25,000m² floor space and visitors representing 99 nationalities, Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference 2016 (OEEC) was not only a great success, the event also grew compared to last year. A great achievement in the current offshore energy market.

11,989 people came to Amsterdam RAI to network and meet companies or to attend one of the many Technical Sessions, Keynotes, Special Events, Side Events and Master Classes from the conference program. The theme of the conference was ‘Entering a new era’ and this was felt by the perfect blending of renewables and oil & gas.

The event brought together industry leaders and (young) professionals during a high quality conference program, at the many networking opportunities and in the exhibition halls. For three days – starting on Monday with the first day of Offshore WIND Conference – Amsterdam was a meeting place for a host of international clients, OEMs, EPC companies and suppliers active in oil and gas exploration and production as well as renewable energy development.

OEEC 2016 had a spectacular kick-off with the very first Offshore Energy Opening Gala Dinner and Awards Show on Monday 24 October.  Guests were treated to dinner and drinks and musical interludes by the Sinfonia Rotterdam Orchestra in the beautiful Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. A special congratulation to the award winners: Ms. Alexia Aubault from Principle Power (winner of the Offshore Energy Young Engineer Award), the Maritime Museum with the Offshore Experience (winner of the Offshore Energy Public Outreach Award), and INTECSEA and Innospection with FlexIQ (winner of the Best Innovation in Offshore Energy Award).

Exhibition

This year 667 exhibitors covered halls 1, 2, 5 and Amtrium of the Amsterdam RAI. The move to the new halls offered the exhibitors and visitors even better opportunities to network. From bagpipes to robots, there were some great sights on the exhibition floor. There were some new additions this year, starting with Community Square, where three on-air talk-shows took place which were live-streamed on OffshoreWind.biz. Next to that, in the Offshore WIND Expertise Hub companies were interviewed on film. These videos will be published on OffshoreWIND.biz in the coming weeks. In the different pavilions, such as Iran, United Kingdom, Scotland, China, Italy, AYOP, DMEC and the Holland pavilion, people came together in an energetic environment to meet up and/or network.

Conference

The high quality conference program at OEEC contained Technical Sessions such as Subsea Processing & Infrastructure, Optimizing Value in the E&P Chain and Decommissioning with speakers from Shell, Heerema and Weatherford. The Keynotes included an Industry Panel and Human Capital Panel. During the Industry Panel industry leaders discussed the future of the fuel mix and the Human Capital Panel focused on trends during a downturn. Within renewables, Offshore WIND Conference (OWC) took place with speakers from Dong, Siemens, The Carbon Trust and Vattenfall. OWC was held over two days, a first in its history, and was bustling with activity. On Wednesday it was possible to attend the OTEC Symposium and the Marine Energy Event. Last but not least, young professionals could attend special Master Classes with masters from Airborne and Van Oord, as well as a special Master Class for HR Professionals done by the Dutch Ministry of Defense.

Offshore Energy 2017

Next year, Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference takes place on 9, 10 and 11 October. The organization thanks all exhibitors, visitors, sponsors, partners, speakers and delegates for their support and contribution to this years’ event.

Information on next year’s edition will be published online on www.offshore-energy.biz shortly.