OTC Set to Open Monday
The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is set to open for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
This year’s conference is scheduled to take place, in person, with virtual components, from August 16 to 19 at the NRG Park in Houston, Texas, following delays and cancellations to previous iterations of the event.
In March last year, OTC postponed its planned conference from May 4 to 7 to the third quarter of 2020, citing “rapidly changing guidance from governments and companies”, and in April 2020, OTC cancelled its 2020 conference after “significant consideration and in light of the Covid-19 pandemic”. In November 2020, the OTC board of directors chose to postpone the 2021 event to August, “due to the ongoing challenges presented by Covid-19”.
Confirmed Covid-19 cases in the United States have risen for seven consecutive weeks, and deaths for two consecutive weeks, according to the latest information from the World Health Organization (WHO). More than 133,000 cases, and 674 deaths, were registered on August 12, WHO data shows. Record cases of more than 312,000, and record deaths of more than 6,500, were posted by the U.S. on January 10, 2021, and April 17, 2020, respectively, according to WHO figures. As of August 9, a total of 353,040,395 vaccine doses have been administered in the country, the latest WHO data reveals.
OTC states on its website that it is monitoring the Covid-19 situation closely in partnership with NRG Park and the City of Houston. If an in-person event is not feasible, OTC notes that it is set up to provide a virtual program and exhibit floor.
OTC ranks among the largest 200 trade shows held annually in the United States and is among the ten largest meetings in terms of attendance, according to the event’s website, which highlights that the show is sponsored by 13 industry organizations and societies who work cooperatively to develop the program each year. OTC also has two endorsing organizations and ten supporting organizations.