Golf Tournament - Sponsored by Chet Morrison Contractors

Wildcat Golf Club

Welcome Reception - JW Marriott

Dinner on your own

Breakfast & Exhibit - Exhibit Hall - Sponsored by Cal Dive International

Registration

General Session I
Welcome & Introductions
Conference Chairman:  Nicky Smith, El Paso Offshore Operations

Update on MMS Regulatory Issues for Offshore Operators

Guest Speaker:  Alex Alvarado, Chief, Pipeline Section - MMS

Refreshment Break & Exhibit- Exhibit Hall

General Session II

Weather Modeling and Forecasting - Trends and Outlook for Hurricane

Activity and Intensity

Guest Speaker:  Jim Gooding, Vice President, Meteorology Operations,            ImpactWeather, Inc

Concurrent Panel Discussion Sessions:

Dive Company Issues:

Availability Forecast for Dive Boats, Equipment,  Personnel, and ROV’s

Moderator:  Tommy McNulty, Duke Energy Gas Transmission

Panelists:  Robby Champagne, Chet Morrison Contractors;  Denzel Reed, Oceaneering International;  Rick Bucher, Cal Dive;  John Lariviere, Epic Divers;  Mark Medwick, Global Dive

Topics/Questions:

• What has been your company's biggest obstacle since the storm - manpower or vessel availability?
• How does your company decide who it will work for first?
• Have you considered allocating time to one company then going to another?  Do you think this will work?
• How are you meeting the backlog of work?  How long before things return to pre-Katrina levels?
• Has your company made any significant operating changes from what used to be normal as a result of the hurricanes?  Does your company have plans to make any further changes?
• Will your company consider allowing an ROV spread on our vessel if your vessel is not available?
• Has your company experienced customers, particularly major oil companies, holding vessels without working them?
• How can your company help offshore operators sort through the work to understand the priorities we all face (i.e., shallow cover inspections versus a leaking line?)
• Based upon predictions for hurricane seasons in the future, and the demand for your services, has your company made any vessel acquisitions or do you plan to purchase any?
• What is your company's strategy for meeting the diver shortage that we are all feeling?  What training are the diver/tenders going through prior to diving on a system?  What is the typical break-in period to go from tender to diver?
• Has your company been audited by any customers concerning divers Op Qual?  Are companies having problems with non OQ'ed divers being sent out?  Has anyone seen any safety associated issues with non OQ'ed divers?
• Are companies having problems with falsified and/or extremely late invoices?  Work, time, materials, fuel, etc., not done or supplied?

Communications Issues:

Maintaining a Robust Communications System During a Severe Hurricane Event

Moderator: Joel Prochaska, Enbridge Offshore Pipeline                             Panelists:  Carl Matt, PetroComm;  Shane Myers, Caprock Communications; others TBA  

 Topics / Questions:   

• Have the GOM communications providers and GOM oil/gas operators/transporters created a hurricane communications coordinations planning team, as a sub team of a GOM overall response plan?    
• What is this panel's view of coordinating hurricane communications for oil/gas operators/transporters with emergency communications for Coast Guard, MMS, FEMA, air and sea transportation, and Spill Response teams?  This is historically a challenge during the response event.  Correct contact information and reliable points of contact are essential.        
• Is satellite phone service on this panel's agenda?  These become critical individual communications devices during an event.  Assurance of not over-subscribing services is paramount as, today, each oil/gas operator/transporter secures it's own services for it's response staffs.  Is over-subscription of satellite services still an issue?  Can there be better coordination of this service?                          
• What actions have the communications service providers taken to ensure replacement/repair supplies can be secured and deployed to damaged facilities quickly, for example within a week?
• What is the panel's projection for communications offshore communications recovery time by service:  microwave, cellular, satellite, etc?  Which service poses the longest recovery time risk?  Which service incurs the highest recovery costs?
• Are there any GOM critical communications service providers that are at risk of not financially surviving the next hurricane event?  If yes, what steps must be taken to mitigate that risk?
• In last year's two hurricane events, a limited number of skilled telecom technicians, limited immediately available repair supplies, and limited air/sea transportation were major factors in communications provider recovery times, (Once emergency teams cleared the offshore facilities for re-entry).  Another major factor was generator power recovery on offshore platforms.  What actions, if any, have been taken to lessen the impacts of these issues?

General Session III - JW Marriott

Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Guest Speakers:  Jack Colley, Texas Office of Emergency Preparedness and

Jim Ballow, Louisiana Office of Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness

LNG: New Technologies and Future Direction

Guest Speaker:  Tom Nolan, ABS Consulting