Editorial: One More Year Down

I’m not sure if it is a function of getting older, getting busier, or a combination of both, but the year 2014 to me is nothing but a blur.  Despite the year-end plummet in oil prices that threatens to throw the offshore energy business into a tailspin, this has been by far the busiest and most productive year in my 20+ year publishing career, and while a drop in energy production may cause a lull in business surrounding the discovery and recovery of assets offshore, the facts regarding your business are rather simple: Energy prices will rebound with a long-term trend that is decidedly bullish; and the demand for advanced technology to discover, recover and analyze information from the world’s waterways will continue to grow.
In November I was honored to join the speaker roster of The Maritime Alliance’s Blue Tech & Blue Economy Summit in San Diego, an event which brought together a group of about two hundred “A List” executives from industry and government to strategize on the long-term plan to simultaneously grow the business and political influence the business and study of the ocean. I am true conference and exhibition veteran, and trust when I say this was a special event with candid conversation and liberal networking opportunities.
While I don’t have a crystal ball nor do I pretend to know with complete accuracy the future direction and speed of the various niches that make up this subsea business, I can report confidently that as the world continues to evolve as an increasingly interconnected community with complex problems, high-tech industries such as this will undoubtedly grow by leaps and bounds.

(As published in the November/December 2014 edition of Marine Technology Reporter - http://www.marinetechnologynews.com/Magazine)