SPE Offshore Europe

SPE Offshore Europe 2015, held in Aberdeen, Scotland from September 8-11, sent out a very clear message that the oil and gas industry has a future for many years to come.

The theme of the 2015 event, inspiring the next generation, allowed the industry to address the technical, business and people challenges it faces now and into the future. At the heart of this is the need to attract and encourage the next generation of talent into the industry.

Attendance figures remained very strong at 55,947 with delegates drawn from 104 countries. Attendance was the second highest in the long history of the show.

A record 1,535 global organisations from 44 countries exhibited this year, showcasing their products, services and expertise. This included 336 companies exhibiting at the event for the first time. The sold-out space covered 27,228 square metres, with more inside space than ever before. Re-bookings for 2017 are looking strong already.

Over the four days of the world’s largest upstream oil and gas conference and exhibition outside North America, around 5,000 visitors attended the conference plenary session, 11 keynote sessions, 80 SPE technical paper presentations, and daily topical lunches and breakfast briefings.

Stephen Graham, Chief Operations Officer for the SPE, added: “The conference programme successfully addressed a number of relevant industry priorities, incorporating the theme of inspiring the next generation. Combined with a busy show floor where exhibitors met with existing and potential customers, I believe SPE Offshore Europe 2015 has been a great success.”

With its emphasis on recognising the long-term need for a secure talent pipeline, the event ran ‘Inspire’, its largest ever programme of activities for a younger audience.

More than 400 school pupils from Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Highland and Angus took part in three half-day workshops and site visits, which gave them an insight into the industry and the opportunity to meet young engineering professionals who shared their work experiences.

Other Inspire events included a Career Pathways Fair, a Student Development Summit, and Energy4me aimed at school science teachers.