Douglas-Westwood Chairman Presents at OSEA2012 (Singapore)

Mr. John Westwood, a globally-renowned commentator on the energy industries and currently Group Chairman of energy business advisory firm, Douglas-Westwood Ltd, will be presenting the Plenary Keynote at the OSEA2012 International Conference on 27 November 2012 at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Focusing on the offshore industry, Mr. Westwood will impart his insights on the opportunities and challenges ahead. Drawing on recent research conducted by Douglas-Westwood on the sector, he will also delve into the macro factors and corresponding impact on energy demand, prices and supply.

Fuel Demand Spurs Increased Offshore Activities, LNG Investments

Forecasters have different views on oil supply for the future. However, most generally agree future oil demand will have to be met by production from unconventional sources such as ultra-deep water, oil sands, heavy oil and shale oil. As such, aggregate exploration expenditure has been increasing at about a 10 per cent annual increment since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Some of the current growth is due to delayed projects restarting; however, Mr. Westwood sees a trend towards increasing spend in the long-term. He adds, “It is expected that more than US$600 billion will be spent by the global Exploration and Production (E&P) industry and the largest growth will without doubt be offshore.”

Natural gas is steadily gaining traction as the fuel of choice for power generation, and is expected to be increasingly used as transportation fuel in future. Forecasters expect demand to grow by 50 per cent by 2030. In order to access the considerable reserves located in remote offshore locations, giant floating LNG (FLNG) vessels are being designed and built against the backdrop of great technical challenges and high costs.

Mr. Westwood expects expenditure on semi-submersible rigs, drillships, jackups and FLNG vessels will rise strongly for the next couple of years. Outlook for the equipment & services sector, especially for subsectors such as deepwater oil and gas and the associated subsea industry, will be bullish, as a result.

Asia Pacific – Emerging Deepwater Hotspot

The Asia Pacific is emerging as a deepwater market, alongside the regions of East Africa, Eastern India and the Eastern Mediterranean, joining major deepwater plays in the ‘golden triangle’ of Brazil, Gulf of Mexico and West Africa.

“With growing global focus on deepwater and subsea, as well as LNG, opportunities for the region’s engineering & construction companies and yards look set to grow in the years ahead and it is likely that the majority of the world’s floating rigs, production systems and subsea support vessels will be built here. The market is changing quickly, and Asian companies need to stay competitive,” states Mr. Westwood.

OSEA2012 Exhibition And International Conference To Topple Previous Records

Poised to beat previous records, OSEA2012, with its exhibition space fully allocated since March 2012, will occupy two levels of exhibition space, or more than 31,000 square metres, at the Marina Bay Sands. The exhibition will play host to a congregation of 1,500 international exhibitors from 48 countries/regions.

The previous event attracted more than 25,000 trade attendees from over 60 countries/regions, and saw visitors from some of the world’s major oil and gas players, including the Bahrain National Gas Company, BP Exploration Operating Company, Brunei LNG, Brunei Shell Petroleum, Chevron, CNOOC, Directorate General of Oil & Gas Indonesia, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, Halliburton Far East, Jurong Shipyard, Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, Keppel Energy, Maersk Drilling, Malaysia Marine & Heavy Engineering, Myanmar Offshore, Petronas Carigali, Sembcorp Marine, Shell Eastern Petroleum, Vietnam National Oil & Gas Group, and many more.

OSEA2012 International Conference, the region’s foremost platform where leaders and experts in the Oil & Gas industry congregate, will be held concurrently with the Exhibition to present delegates with an exciting line up of industry and business renowned speakers to share their expertise on the latest technology and business trends & challenges surrounding the oil and gas industry.

Refreshed for 2012, the OSEA2012 International Conference is overall structured into four tracks that delve into important topics such as the global outlook and its impact on Asia, commercial trends and challenges, revolutionary technological innovations in Offshore Development & Production, Offshore Safety Management, Natural Gas & LNG Developments, as well as a Technical Programme focusing on facilities engineering, enhancing production operations, and energy management and sustainability. The Conference will also impart to participants practical advice and tips to resolve current offshore production, HSE and technical challenges.

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Press Release, October 11, 2012; Image: Douglas-Westwood