OTC 2020 Still On Despite Virus Outbreak

This year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is currently scheduled to go ahead, despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the United States.

“We are actively monitoring the potential impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus on our activities and currently do not anticipate making any change in plans to OTC,” event organizers have stated on the OTC website. 

“As the situation evolves, the health and safety of event attendees, exhibitors, and OTC staff will be our highest priority and guide any decisions that we make,” OTC organizers added.

OTC 2020 is scheduled to take place from May 4-7 in Houston, Texas. Last year, over 59,000 people from 111 countries attended the event, which is said to have made a $3 billion economic impact in Houston since its debut 1969.

Houston’s CERAWeek conference has already been canceled as a precaution to help prevent further spread of the coronavirus in the U.S.. The event, which was scheduled to begin on March 9, is next expected to take place in Houston in 2021, from March 1-5. Delegates from over 80 countries were expected to participate in CERAWeek 2020.  

Industry body Oil & Gas UK (OGUK) has also postponed several of its events this year “in light of the developing spread of coronavirus”.

The following events have been affected:

• Share Fair - Aberdeen, March 24
• Doctors’ Training Workshop - Aberdeen, April 1
• D&I Conference - Aberdeen, April 23
• Examining Doctors’ Conference - London, May 7

New dates for the events will be released “in due course”, according to OGUK, which said the safety of its members and visiting delegates was of the “upmost priority”.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) website outlines that the outbreak of COVID-19 was first reported from Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. As of March 5, there have been 95,333 confirmed cases of the virus around the world, with 129 of these confirmed in the U.S. and 89 confirmed in the UK, according to WHO.

Following the outbreak of the coronavirus, several companies have cut their 2020 Brent oil price forecasts. Earlier this week, IHS Markit revealed that it expects world oil demand will decline by the largest volume in history in the first quarter.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com