Minister Noel leads Newfoundland and Labrador
delegation to the 2003 Offshore Technology Conference

Mines and Energy Minister Walter Noel will lead a Newfoundland and Labrador delegation to the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2003 in Houston, Texas from May 5 to 8. The Department of Mines and Energy organized the Newfoundland and Labrador delegation which includes representatives from 47 oil and gas industry organizations.

OTC is North America�s premier offshore technology conference for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection. The annual event attracts government, business, and industry leaders from all over the world.

"It is extremely important to participate in a conference of this magnitude," said Minister Noel. "We must seize every opportunity to promote our oil and gas resources and to encourage new exploration from national and international investors.

"Our offshore petroleum sector is generating many new opportunities for our province. This conference will provide an excellent forum to promote new areas of our offshore. There is great interest in our deep water areas such as the Flemish Pass, and in the Orphan Basin where little exploration has been conducted. The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NOPB) recently announced 14 land parcels, primarily in deep water, that are available for bids. Our delegation will certainly highlight these opportunities along with prospects for the Laurentian Sub-basin."

The minster has scheduled a number of meetings and will attend numerous events during OTC, including an international press conference with the Governments of Nova Scotia and British Columbia on Tuesday, May 6. This will be followed by a lunch hour presentation to the Houston World Affairs Council. The mnister will speak and deliver a presentation highlighting the province�s oil and gas industry.

This is the 20th year that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will be represented at this conference.

The Newfoundland and Labrador participants are:

A. Harvey and Company Ltd.
ACCENT Engineering Consultants Inc.
Aliant Telecom
Atlantic Business Magazine
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Atlantic Offshore Medical Services
Bank of Montreal
Bull Arm Site Corporation
C-CORE
Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board
City of Mount Pearl
City of St. John�s Economic Development and Tourism
Coldwell Banker Pro Co
College of the North Atlantic
ComFact Corporation
ConPro Group Limited
Eimskip Canada
East Coast Tubulars/NOSO
EMCO Offshore
G.J. Cahill & Co. Ltd.
Genoa design International Ltd.
GRI Simulations
Hi-Point Industries
J.D. Irving Limited
Jacques Whitford
M&M Offshore Ltd.
Memorial University Department of Earth Sciences
P.F. Collins Custom Brokers Ltd.
NEWDOCK St. John�s Dockyard
Quality Hotel
Newfoundland Ocean Industries Association
Newfoundland Service Alliance
Nord Marine Services Ltd.
Northstar Technical Inc.
Oceanex Inc.
Oceanic Consulting Corp.
Pan Maritime Energy Services
Peter Kiewit Sons co. Ltd.
Optipress Inc.
Pro-Dive Oceaneering Co.
Publishing World Inc./Atlantic Oil Works
Puglisvich Group
Spectrol Group
Stratos
St. John�s Port Authority
SEA Systems Ltd.
Town of Paradise

Media contact: Darrell Mercer, Communications, (709) 729-5777, cell 687-0477.

2003 05 05                                       10:25 a.m.