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The Offshore Technology Conference is held annu- ally in Houston, Texas, and is widely regarded as the world?s most important and influential Offshore Oil & Gas industry event. OTC brings the world together at the Reliant Park in Houston annually in May, empha- sizing the drilling, exploration, production and envi- ronmental protection aspects of the offshore energy industry. For the first time last month, OTC held an event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and according to many visitor, participants and organizers it was a huge suc- cess.The OTC Brasil 2011 is the first installment of this exciting event in Brazil. The thriving South American country was chosen to host the first OTC event out- side of North America due to the new O&G discover- ies which have been popping up in and around Brazil over the last five years, with the massive deepwater pre-salt light oil discoveries as main highlights of the new Brazilian oil boom. These very significant dis- coveries and their development, combined with the fact that the development of all of the new pre-salt and also many new post-salt fields is driving an unheard- of growth in the Brazilian offshore service industry and also the rebirth of the mothballed local shipbuild- ing industry and its supporting service and equipmentindustry. This inaugural Brazilian event, held October 4-6, 2011, in Rio de Janeiro, was organized by the Offshore Technology Conference. The OTC Brasil 2011 was launched at the Riocentro conference center in Rio deJaneiro, agreeably close to the Barra da Tijuca beaches and not far from downtown Rio or the international airport.This first installment of OTC Brasil conference ex- ceeded the organizers´ expectations with more than 10,000 attendees and more than 400 companies from23 countries represented in the exhibition with 90 Brazilian companies showing their projects, products and services to the global O&G industry. Two exhibi- tion halls were fully occupied for the event, which had a total 11,500 sq. m. of exhibits showcasing the latest in technology from the world-wide offshore industry. Conference areas within the exhibition halls housed technical paper presentations, industry panels andmany more discussions and technology presentations. The conference welcomed three new supporting or- ganizations, ?Associação Brasileira de Engenharia Química? (Brazilian Association of Chemical Engi- neering),? Associação Brasileira de Geólogos de Petróleo? (Brazilian Association of Petroleum Geolo- gists), and ?Sociedade Brasileira de Geofísicos?(Brazilian Geophysical Society). It also gained the support of Rio Negocios, the Rio Business Agency, and attracted speakers from Brazil?s Agencia Nacional do Petroleo (ANP), office of External Trade of the Ministry of the Development, Industry and External Trade (MDIC), and the US Commerce Department. An interesting development was the addition of the university area in Pavilion 1, next to the booths of the OTC founders and its sister technical societies in Brazil (ABEQ and ABGP). The local universities shared information about their current projects at theirresearch centers for the O&G industry, services and equipment, and how their curriculum will meet the needs of the Brazilian oil and gas industry presently and in the near future. ?We were extremely pleased with the turnout and success of the conference. The time was right to bring OTC to Brazil. The region is rapidly gearing up to be one of the world?s largest offshore producers, and gathering the most influential associations and play- ers in the industry will be a catalyst in developing the Brazilian offshore resources,? said Ricardo Juiniti, OTC Brasil 2011 Program Committee co-chairman with OGX.Although this first installment of the OTC Brasil, had a majority of foreign companies present and didnot have a Petrobras booth, it was still considered a success as many local companies that did not partici- pate this year have pledged to join the event next year. Some of the highlights of the OTC Brasil 2011 were the in-depth technical program with emphasis onworker, environmental and equipment safety, deepwa- ter pre-salt challenges, and discussions on how to safely and efficiently develop Brazil´s O&G reser- voirs. There were several sessions that focused on de- veloping both technological and human resources. There was also a session with service providers on how to supply technology to meet the region?s needs. The greatest hurdle to develop the Brazilian offshore assets is the scarcity of technically trained manpower. Unfortunately there is no immediate solution to thisand it may take another decade solve this problem, even with the aggressive training and scouting pro- grams being pursued by the local government and both national and foreign companies. The importance of the OTC Brasil 2011 cannot be undermined as the country and its O&G related industries truly needs thisinternationally acclaimed event, which is a vital cata- lyst in bridging the gap between local and foreign companies and investors. Plans for the second edition of OTC Brasil are al- ready underway. The conference will take place Oc- tober 8-10, 2013, again at the Riocentro convention center in Rio de Janiero.www.otcbrasil.org FEATURE WORKBOAT ANNUAL OTC Brasil 2011 Last month the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) held its inaugural event in Brazil. Maritime Reportercorrespondent Claudio Paschoa reports from Rio de Janeiro. FROM THE TOP:(1) Full house at the OTC Brasil 2011.(2)The OGX and OSX booths were most popular (3) Hempel &(4) General Electric, participated in the inaugural event.(5) The US Pavillion at the OTC Brasil 2011.(6) Maersk Drilling looking at entering the Brazilian O&G market.66Maritime Reporter & Engineering News 123456MR Nov.11 # 9 (65-73):MR Template 11/2/2011 3:21 PM Page 66