Page 68: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1984)

Photo—Tenneco Inc.

OTC 84 • / \ •

Innovative approaches to deep- water drilling and production, the role of government regulations in promoting offshore safety, break- throughs in seismic surveying, and coping with ice forces in arctic construction are just a few of the topics that offshore experts will address during the 1984 Offshore

Technology Conference (OTC) May 7—9 at Houston's Astrohall.

Offshore engineers, scientists, and managers from around the world will attend the meeting for three days of high-level discus- 70 sions and technical presentations.

Now in its, 16th year, OTC is the leading worldwide forum for ex- change of technical information related to ocean resources devel- opment and the environment.

Speakers at four Topical Lunch- eons will cover key technical is- sues facing the offshore commu- nity. These luncheons are designed to stimulate an open exchange of views among those who attend.

The technical program will in- clude almost 200 papers focusing on case studies of major offshore developments, new drilling and producing technologies, arctic op- erations, diving support, ocean mining, geological and geophysi- cal advances, the environment, and special topics. Sessions of par- ticular interest will feature discus- sions of Exxon's Lena Guyed Tower, an innovative deepwater platform in the Gulf of Mexico; Shell's rec- ord water-depth well; and floating production facilities.

The OTC Awards Luncheon on

Monday, May 7, will honor out- standing technical achievements by an individual and an organiza- tion in the offshore industry. Re- cipients are Ronald L. Geer, a pi- oneer in floating and subsea completion technology, and Exxon

Company U.S.A., cited for design and installation of the Lena Guyed

Tower.

There will be no exhibition at the 1984 OTC. The 1985 OTC will return to the conference and exhi- bition format.

OTC is sponsored jointly each year by 11 of the world's most prominent engineering and scien- tific societies with a combined membership of more than 500,000.

The Society of Petroleum Engi- neers, headquartered in Dallas, is the managing group for OTC.

Technical Program

The Program Committee has chosen almost 200 technical pa- pers from 537 abstracts received last year. Authors will present these papers in 35 sessions Mon- day through Wednesday, May 7—9, in the Astrohall. "The abstracts we received for this year's meeting have better technical quality and less commer- cial flair than many we have re- ceived in the past," said Brian J.

Watt of Brian Watt Associates in

Houston, chairman of the Program

Committee. The papers come from around the world, with particu- larly strong representation from the U.S., Canada, and Japan, and contributions from the U.K., Nor- way, and other North Sea countries.

Mr. Watt said the committee recognized its responsibility for success of the 1984 OTC, as the meeting does not include a techni- cal exhibition this year. "We have emphasized coherence and cur- rency on major subjects," he said.

The committee strove to make the 1984 program especially rel- evant by organizing special ses- (continued on page 74)

Maritime Reporter/Engineering News