THE New Zealand Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference is here, and all roads lead to New Plymouth’s TSB Stadium for the prestigious September 9 to 10 show.
With both pre-registrations for the two-day exhibition and delegate bookings for the one-day conference very strong, event organiser Swan Exhibitions is anticipating a large turn-out.
The conference theme is ‘Where to next for New Zealand’s oil and gas industry?’ – chaired by PEPANZ executive officer, John Pfahlert. High-profile speakers include Jonathan Young, MP for New Plymouth and Dennis Washer, general manager New Zealand, AWE.
Dennis Addison, director, manufacturing, for Methanex New Zealand will talk about Methanex’s current New Zealand business, the promising gas outlook and what it means for methanol production and alternative energy.
Stephen Parker, executive director of GANZ will speak on ‘Better regulation is less regulation’, and Chris McKeown, commercial manager, L&M Petroleum has an update on L&M’s oil and gas exploration activities.
David Brown, training and development manager for Origin Energy will background The Petroleum Skills Association’s skill capability building efforts – and Brent Young, associate professor at the University of Auckland looks at future trends in oil and gas process simulation.
Björn Larsson of Technip Oceania, will have an interesting talk on the Kupe gas project, pipeline section – the technical challenges and innovation of shallow water projects.
Delegate seats are limited and can be booked by phoning 0061 8 9443 3400 or visiting www.swanexhibitions.com.au. 
The two-day exhibition (September 9 & 10) features a broad spread of companies involved in the oil and gas industry. An Internet lounge will also be available as a free service to exhibitors, delegates and visitors.
Exhibitor Grimwood plans to hold a competition at the expo, which could see the lucky winner secure a trip across the Tasman. The company is currently looking to source photographs or nameplate rubbings of old product out in the field, in order to demonstrate how robust and reliable the Grimwood product is.
Admission is free to the exhibition, which is open from 10am to 6pm on the Wednesday and 10am to 5pm on Thursday.
Additional information about the event, including visitor pre-registrations, can be obtained at www.swanexhibitions.com.au
The 2009 New Zealand Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference is supported by the New Plymouth District Council, SDV, FLUKE, Hydac International, and CapENZ.•