Offshore Technology Conference Sees Rising Indian Influence
By Pramod Kulkarni
HOUSTON: Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is the premiere conference of the oil and gas industry. Over 90,000 delegates from around the globe gathered earlier this week in Houston, the energy capital of the world.
Arun Karle of Askara International welcomed guests to the ONGC-Indian Technology Meet with a display of a variety of headgear, including the 10-gallon Texas hat, a Gandhi topi and an oilfield helmet.
A small but highly influential segment of the OTC gathering consists of executives with an Indian pedigree—managers of visiting Indian oil and gas companies, entrepreneurs of Indian origin and Indo-Americans, who are affiliated with local or international oil and gas operators, service companies and equipment manufacturers.
Delegations from India included executives from public sector E&P companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC), Oil India and private companies such as Reliance Industries.
Parveen Kumar (left) CEO of Parveen Industries joins Rebecca Sinha, Business Development Manager; TJ Sinha, Vice President; and Dev Sinha, Sales Manager; with American Completion Tools.
Prominent exhibiting companies included Worldwide Oilfield Machinery (WOM), a manufacturer of gate valves; American Block, a manufacturer of rig equipment; and American Completion Tools, a Texas based subsidiary of Parveen Industries. Hundreds of Indian origin employees of operators such as BP and Shell, service companies such as Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, and equipment manufacturers such as Cameron, were also in attendance.
ONGC MD D. K. Saraf could not attend but the leadership task was assumed by T. K. Sengupta, ONGC Director (Offshore).
Over 200 delegates of Indian origin and their guests attended a Tuesday evening reception hosted by ONGC.
The objective of the reception was to create a collaborative atmosphere between ONGC and international companies that could provide leading edge oil and gas technologies.
Mr. Sengupta delivered the opening remarks, followed by a presentation of ONGC activities by A.K. Dwivedi, Exploration. Joining them on the dais were former SPE President and Chevron VP Ganesh Thakur, Indian Consul General P. Harish and a representative of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC).
“ONGC produces 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, which represents 75% of the country’s production,” said Sengupta. But that is far below the domestic consumption above 3.5 million barrels per day.
“We need more technology,” Sengupta urged. “Most of our fields are 35-40 years old. Mumbai High is now 40 years old.” Nevertheless, ONGC is implementing an ambitious 5-year plan to increase production to 3 million barrels per day.” Of note for Houstonians was the announcement that ONGC was planning to establish an office in Houston.