By Amy Skalmusky, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – An old adage states “it’s not what you know but who you know,” but of course a successful business demands the “what” as well as the “who.” Both will be represented at the Next Generation Oil & Gas Latin America Summit 2011, taking place at the Windsor Barra Hotel in Barra de Tijuca next week, from February 1st to the 3rd.
Unlike a traditional trade show that is open to the general public, the Next Generation summit aims to provide a venue where Latin American Oil and Gas operators can connect with vendors from all over the world and find solutions for their specific needs. The streamlined and professional flow gives the event a distinct advantage over others, according to Ryan Kanis, the director of the NGO&G Latin America Summit in Rio.
“There are no booths like a traditional trade show where oil operators are overwhelmed by the amount of exhibitors,” said Kanis. “To keep the integrity of the event we host high-level executives both from the operators and vendors. One hundred percent of the people in attendance are decision makers.”
All those in attendance commit to three full days of events like Roundtables, Workshops and One-to-One meetings. Roundtables offer moderated, peer-led discussion on major industry issues. The 40-minute panels will cover the topics of Production Enhancement, Governmental/Regulatory Compliance and Health, Safety & Environment in the Upstream sector of the industry.
This sector includes the activities of searching for potential underground or underwater oil and gas fields, drilling exploratory wells, operating the wells and bringing the crude oil or raw natural gas to the surface.
Workshops are discussions that deal with similar topics in a relaxed and informal setting. The “No Power Point Presentation” rule for the sessions ensures an easy going atmosphere.
In the One-to-One meetings, summit organizers play cupid between operators, service companies and technology developers. Summit organizers talk with the invited executives to discover pressing strategy and technology demands and then match these demands with the leading solutions and services available in the market and invite those companies to participate.
Though many of the industry heavy-hitters, such as BG Group, OGX, Repsol and Shell will be participating, companies of all sizes benefit from the event.
“If I would consider the time and financial effort to visit this many potential clients, it would almost be impossible for an organization like ours,” said Hermann Homann, President of Fronterra Integrated Geosciences, a mid-sized borehole evaluation and reservoir modeling Service Company.
The major part of the summit focuses on business discussions, networking and technical lectures; however, there are some leisure time activities as well as open networking sessions. “We do plan certain off-site activities,” said Kanis, “(They) always involve all of the summit’s participants.”
With the Oil & Gas industry in Latin America growing rapidly, the discussions, meetings and workshops at the Summit may have a hand in helping national and international companies from all over the world target this exciting growth market.
Place: Windsor Barra Hotel
Avenida Lucio Costa 2630 , Barra da Tijuca
Rio de Janeiro
Date: February 1st – 3rd, 2011
Web site: www.ngosummitla.com