This week at the I-X Center in Cleveland, the Ohio Oil and Gas Association held the nation’s only all-indoor industry trade and equipment show. The association had to move the expo from the Canton Memorial Center to the I-X Center because they outgrew the venue due to high interest and an increase in business demand. This year, over 240 vendors had booth space – well beyond last year’s attendance in Canton. The event drew over 3,000 visitors to the many rows of information tables and supply chain booths to learn about the oil and gas industry.

Those who are in the industry and the community had ample opportunity to find more in depth information at one of the many meeting rooms to listen to the experts OOGA had on hand. There were three main tracks:

1. Environmental – which included a screening of the Energy in Depth movie Truthland
2. Safety – which included a session about pipeline safety
3. Business development – which included a session on the safety culture in the oil and gas industry

In addition to the smaller break out sessions, there were several keynote speakers, including Mr. Matthew Warner of Halliburton who talked about their Utica Shale operations. Also on the agenda was a panel featuring Mike McCormac and Tom Tomastik from The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Mineral Resource Management. They spoke to the crowd about the current state of regulations, focusing on Senate Bill 315.

Of course Energy in Depth had a booth as well. At the table were copies of Truthland, photos of well pads and production sites along with handouts about well casing. The entire team was on hand to talk to the public about such topics as permits issues and wells in production.

We look forward to next year as development in the Utica Shale continues to expand.

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