Sea Technology

JUN 2015

The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community

Issue link: http://sea-technology.epubxp.com/i/527607

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 35 of 76

www.sea-technology.com June 2015 / st 35 T he National Ocean Indus- tries Association (NOIA) held its 2015 Annual Meeting from April 15 to 17 at the Ritz- Carlton in Washington, D.C., with about 200 in attendance. Prominent media represen- tatives, authors, politicians and experts spoke on topics ranging from politics and economics to perceptions of the offshore in- dustry. Presenters and attendees discussed offshore regulatory policy, offshore safety culture and practices, offshore technol- ogy, offshore wind progress, off- shore leasing and seismic test- ing in the Atlantic. Safety in Seas Award SEACOR Marine (Houston, Texas) was awarded the 2015 NOIA Safety in Seas (SIS) Culture of Safety Award, for a total recordable incident rate of zero for 2014, and Safety Prac- tice Award, for the behavior-based safety program PAUSE (Prevent Accidents Use Safety Equipment). The awards are sponsored by Compass Publications Inc., the publisher of Sea Technology magazine. Rick Martin, publisher of the Fisheries Division of Compass Publications, presented the awards. This marks the frst year that a single company has won both awards. SEACOR's award-winning entries were selected by a panel of judges from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the National Acad- emy of Sciences Transportation Review Board, and an inde- pendent industry safety consultant. Operators' Panel Last year, the infux of Libyan oil, weak economic growth in Asia and the uptick in U.S. oil production all contributed to commodity price decline. The fall was faster and deep- er than most prognosticators expected, and oil prices are not expected to dramatically rise in the near future. Lower oil prices affect the entire oil industry, including offshore operators and service compa- nies. There may be a greater time lag for deepwater projects compared to those in shallow water and onshore, but all feel the pinch. Under these conditions it is fair to ask why companies continue to explore and devel- op expensive offshore projects and continue to expand into new areas outside the Gulf of Mexico. With these questions in mind, four operators pre- sented their views in a panel about the future of offshore oil and natural gas prospects. The panel was composed of a mixture of majors and independents, all of whom have operations in the Gulf of Mexico: Michael Illanne, vice president of Chevron North America Exploration and Production Co. (Houston), Gulf of Mexico Unit; Chris Kendall, vice president of Global Op- erations Service for Noble Energy (Houston); Mark Shuster, executive vice president Exploration Upstream Americas for Shell (Houston); and David Welch, chairman, president and CEO for Stone Energy Corp. (Lafayette, Louisiana). Speakers Among the speakers at the meeting was David Gregory, former host of "Meet the Press," who spoke about his career and ethics as a newsman, which he said included always asking the tough questions, particularly of government off- cials who should be held accountable, while being fair and evenhanded. Alex Epstein, best-selling New York Times author of "The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels," spoke during a session hosted by the Public Affairs and Education Committee (PAEC). Ep- NOIA 2015 Annual Meeting Review ST Conference Review Rick Martin of Compass Publications (right) presents the 2015 NOIA Safety in Seas (SIS) Awards for Safety Practice and Culture of Safety to SEACOR Marine President John Gel- lert (middle) and HSE Manager Michael Cenac (left).

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Sea Technology - JUN 2015
loading...
Sea Technology
Welcome!
If you're not a subscriber, please click here for a free subscription.