Selling A New Vision for the Digital Oilfield

The 2012 OilComm trade show has experienced quite a makeover this year. The show that was previously known as Offshore Communications (a title that is now inaccurate due to the show’s recent inclusion of an inland remote track) not only receives a new name, but also a new face, a new audience, a new look and a new vision. The slogan for this year’s show – “Unveiling the Next Generation” – couldn’t be any more fitting.
   My colleague and OilComm show director Lindsey Fuller has done an excellent job in expanding the show’s appeal. She opened Tuesday morning’s keynote address by confirming a 15 percent growth in attendance from last year. Bursting at its seams, the show is even moving to a new venue next year at the George Brown Convention Center.
   The attendees are contributing just as much “new” to the environment as Lindsey and her team. Walking around the show floor, you’ll hear people speak about new methods of approaching remote IT and communications. You’ll hear about new visions for oil and gas operations from engineers and service providers eager to sell their visions of a new, digital oilfield. The oilrig is now a work environment that is just as modern and connected as the stockbroker firm in New York City. The oil industry itself is showing no signs of slowing its growth and progress. Despite record unemployment in the rest of the United States, employment is at an all time high in Houston’s on and offshore energy sector. Employees are treated as a valuable commodity – rock stars, even. What is the new generation looking for in an employer? According to OilComm keynote speaker and Apache Vice President of Global IT Michael Kuykendall, one of the answers to that question is having the bandwidth available to allow employees to play Xbox games with their friends back home.