Page 48: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1981)

Aerial view of the Astrodomain Complex — Houston, Texas (continued from page 49)

The Offshore Technology Con- ference is the definitive interna- tional forum on ocean resources exploration and production. OTC attained this distinction early in its 12-year history and continues to build on its own success by an- nually creating the most condu- cive atmosphere for the open dis- cussion of virtually every aspect of the technology, products, and services associated with the off- shore industry.

This year the 13th Offshore

Technology Conference will be held on May 4-7, 1981 in the As- trodomain in Houston, Texas.

The medium of OTC '81—220 technical paper presentations with discussions, coupled with a technical exhibition of more than 483,000 square feet — will draw professionals from all over the world to create the annual forum.

Last year, 87,000 scientists, man- agers, engineers, and government representatives from 90 nations attended OTC. It is expected that this year's attendance will exceed that of last year.

The Conference's Program

Committee has created the ideal forum by assembling the world's foremost scientific minds to re- veal the latest insights and de- velopments in technology. Par- ticipants will have the opportu- nity to share in open discussions of theories and practical applica- tions of offshore resource develop- ment, including deep-water drill- ing, offshore safety, subsea min- ing, and ocean thermal-energy conversion. As an added feature, the Conference this year will pre- sent two special sessions of par- ticular significance. One general session examines "Offshore Oil and Gas Operations—Assessment for the 1970s and Forecast for the 1980s." Industry representa- tives will discuss the achieve- ments for the 1970s and the chal- lenge for the 1980s. The other special session addresses the legal uncertainties involved in the deep- sea mining of manganese nodules.

The technical exhibition dem- onstrates the industry's latest technological advances through 2,200 participating exhibitors.

Company representatives from 23 nations explain the equipment and services in such areas as drilling, completion, production, navigation, pollution control, and power generation.

Awards Luncheon

The 1981 OTC Achievement

Awards for Individuals and Or- ganizations will be presented dur- ing the Awards Luncheon, Tues- day, May 5. This year's recipients of the prestigious awards — Dr.

Lyle S. St. Amant and Gulf Uni- versities Research Consortium — were selected in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the field of offshore technology.

Dr. St. Amant, assistant direc- tor of the Louisiana Wildlife and

Fisheries Commission, receives the award for his work on coastal and estuarine environments and for his objective counsel to the offshore resources industry on methods to improve the compati- bility of industrial and natural activities. Dr. St. Amant, a noted scientist and conservationist, has authored numerous articles deal- ing with the effects of petroleum production on the marine envi- ronment. His research is viewed as a valuable contribution to the development of the offshore in- dustry.

Gulf Universities Research

Consortium (GURC) is being hon- ored for its extensive study of offshore ecology during the peri- od of 1971-79. The conclusions of the study, which culminated in the publication "The Offshore

Ecology Investigation," provide a sound understanding of the ef- fects of petroleum operations on the ecology of estuarine and off- shore waters. Without GURC's efforts, many experts feel that

U.S. leasing and offshore opera- tions would be at a considerably lower level than they are today.

Message Center

A Message Center will be oper- ated by Southwestern Bell in the lobby of the Astrohall during the

Conference. The Message Center will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Monday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Wed- nesday, and 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. All messages for persons attending the Conference should be telephoned to (713) 791- 0949. No paging system is avail- able in the Astrodomain complex.

Transportation

OTC will provide its registrants complimentary shuttle-bus serv- ice between the Astrodomain com- plex and all hotels and motels listed with the OTC Housing Bu- reau and the official travel agents during the Conference, May 4-7.

Bus schedules will be available in the registration areas at the participating hotels and motels.

OTC-TV Coverage

Throughout its 12-year history,

OTC has sought to reach beyond the technical community to ex- plain and interpret the spectrum of ocean resources development to the lay audience. The Confer- ence will continue this public- outreach program again in 1981 with the airing of OTC-TV over

KUHT-TV, Channel 8, Houston's

Public Broadcasting Service af- filiate, during the week of OTC.

Programs to be aired will con- centrate on the issues of today that reflect the growth and the challenges of the offshore indus- try. The noncommercial, public- interest program will parallel the

Conference itself by calling on the worldwide experts attending

OTC to translate into layman's terms the significant and fasci- nating achievements of industry and academia.

For the third year, KUHT has donated 11 broadcast hours to

OTC over a five-day period (in- cluding the Sunday before OTC).

OTC Executive Committee

Because of the diversity of engineering and scientific disciplines involved in off- shore resource development, interdisciplinary cooperation is a key part of the OTC success record. The 11 international engineering and scientific organizations that joined in 1968 to establish OTC represent more than 475,000 professionals. One of the earliest provisions made for Conference management called for represent- atives of each Sponsor Society to participate in the overall governing of the Con- ference through an Executive Committee. Each representative responsible for the 1981 OTC is shown below with his corresponding society:

Dan K. Adamson, OTC Executive Manager.

R.C. Rieder, Exhibitors' representative, Continental Emsco Co.

C.A. Hutchinson (SPE-AIME), consultant.

Howard Breck (SEG).

James A. Rickard (MTS), Exxon Production Research Co.

James R. Jackson Jr. (AAPG), Exxon Co., U.S.A.

Conrad G. Welling (SME-AIME), Ocean Minerals Co.

William duBarry Thomas (SNAME), J.J. Henry Co., Inc.

Joseph D. Defilippi (TMS-AIME), U.S. Steel-Research.

Mickey M. Livingston (ASME), Oilwell Division, U.S. Steel Corp.

William B. Katz (AlChE), Illinois Chemical Corp.

William J. Emrich (ASCE), McClelland Engineers.

John C. Redmond (IEEE), Stromberg-Carlson. 50 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News