Star-studded lineup to speak on opening day of SPE Offshore Europe 2017

Pedro Parente, CEO of Petrobras, and Robin Watson, chief executive of Wood Group, will speak at the opening plenary session at SPE Offshore Europe to be held in Aberdeen from September 5-8, 2017.

They will join Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, and Bob Dudley, chief executive of BP, to address this year’s central theme of SPE Offshore “Embracing New Realities: Reinventing our Industry” on the opening day of the conference.

Conference chair Catherine MacGregor, president of the drilling group at Schlumberger, said: “It is a testimony to the relevance of the North Sea that these industry leading CEOs with global portfolios have agreed to speak at the opening plenary session at SPE Offshore Europe 2017.

“Their insights will set the stage for the largest and most topical technical conference and exhibition in Europe, reflecting the strategic, commercial, behavioral, and technology challenges that will shape the future of the industry for the next ten years and beyond.”

Watson, who became chief executive of Wood Group in January 2016, will join the three operating company CEOs to give a service company’s perspective of the new realities the industry is facing. He has been an executive member of the Wood Group board since January 2013 and chief executive officer of the Wood Group’s PSN division since 2012.

Pedro Parente was appointed CEO of Petrobras in June 2016 and has held several Government positions including chief of staff minister, minister of planning, deputy minister of finance, chairman of the energy crisis management chamber, and was a member of the board of Petrobras becoming chairman in 2002.

 

SPE Offshore Europe

SPE Offshore Europe 2017 will offer more than 65 technical papers and 11 keynote panel sessions combined with business breakfasts and topical lunches. New technologies, products, and services launched by exhibitors in the last 12 months will be highlighted in a new initiative called ‘Tech Trek,’ developed to help visitors to find what’s new, more easily.

A ‘new for 2017’ Decommissioning Zone will feature a themed exhibition and conference space. Free-to-attend, the zone will include an exhibition area for decommissioning technology and service providers as well as a conference program organized in association with Decom North Sea, IMechE, ITF, and SUT.

SPE Offshore Europe has been held biennially in Aberdeen since 1973. The organizers claim the event to be the largest E&P conference and exhibition outside of North America.