This week is the annual festival in Texas we call the Offshore Technology Conference, and it is THE event of the year in the oil industry. From all directions, engineers, geologists, salesmen, journalists, and others flock to this unparalleled concentration of innovation and technology.
We've been covering OTC since it was born about 30 years ago. And I'm sure we'll be keeping a close eye on it 30 years into the future.
New equipment and technology shows, however, did not begin with OTC. They've been with us since we realized the need to share technology or sell each other bits.
The IPE
Until OTC came along, there was only one big oil industry trade show held in the country. It was the International Petroleum Exposition, and it was held about every 4 years in Tulsa from the 1920s until 1976.
Everybody who was anybody in the oil business was in Tulsa during the IPE. We recently discovered a May 17, 1934, Oil & Gas Journal that was the second of two issues covering the event for that year. Photos show attendees from such diverse places as Mexico, Germany, Argentina, and the Soviet Union. Every producing nation in the world was said to be well-represented there.
The IPE was not just an oil industry event, it was a community carnival. One of our editors, L.G.E. Bignell, wrote about the opening day:
"The exposition was officially opened at 2 p.m. by W.G. Skelly, president of the exposition. The opening ceremonies started with a parade through the grounds by the Oklahoma A & M College band, with Boy Scouts and members of the American Legion assisting."
Later in the article, Bignell noted: "On the platform with the speakers were a number of foreign delegates with their wives and daughters, and in their honor, the Boy Scouts enacted their 'Parade of the Flags'... A group of young ladies dressed in the costumes of the various oil producing nations and carrying small flags of the countries also marched to the platform as the band played salutes to each flag as it was presented."
Houston should do that.
"There were several other details in connection with the opening ceremonies," Bignell wrote, "such as the registration of the 'Old-Timers' and the demonstration of the 1912 model airplane furnished by Frank Phillips of Bartlesville, Okla."
New equipment
The IPE wasn't just a party for dignitaries. Important new technology was unveiled. Especially touted were improvements in diesel engines. They were seen operating pipeline pumps, drilling equipment, and heavy-duty tractors.
Oxyacetylene and electric arc-type welding outfits were displayed, and "stunts" were conducted to amuse the crowd. The old OGJ article doesn't say exactly what the stunts were, but maybe hospital reports from the next day could fill us in.
Also seen as important were new tubular goods and their fittings, firefighting equipment, machine tools, and oil well-shooting equipment.
Bignell says in his article: "The oil-well shooter is advancing from a happy-go-lucky sort of fellow to a very scientific individual with his equipment keeping pace with development...in the booths will be seen new types of shooters' cars and time bombs that have long been the dream of the men engaged in this profession."
Heavy-duty trucks were also on display, and the magazine shows ads for Reo and Marmon-Herrington.
Of course, most of the magazine was filled with timely items on such things as crude prices, production statistics, and refinery construction. The people at the exposition still needed to keep up with the latest news, including news from Washington.
In fact, an article next to Bignell's has a headline that reads:
"No gouging in gasoline prices shown by Federal Trade Commission report."
Does that sound familiar? I think we ran that recently.
