The 2015 OMC, the segment takes control in terms of efficiency of the Processes, safety and sustainability

Efficiency does not apply to the renewables only, but it is a driving factor of the economy, and an example of this was the 2015 edition of the Offshore Mediterranean Conference which took place in Ravenna on March 25-27.

From the enterprises involved, to the oil companies and the Ministries present (the MoED represented Italy, and Egypt, the twinning partner for the event, was represented by the Ministry for Oil) the message is clear: the resources are available, but they are wasted. A world, that of the oil, that has not forgotten and that does not take for granted the splendor of the past anymore. However, it knows where it is going to, with its competences and awareness that it is still a primary economic and strategic power with everything what it entails.

The mirror of the sector, namely the OMC, attracted wide public attention also this year. First data identify around 16,600 unique visitors in the first two days, including the operators from the national and international sector and the students ready to appear and offer themselves in the job market. The target to which the fair dedicated a special contest at which the best works were presented and awarded. The National Energy Strategy, released in 2013, was referred to several times in those days by the Ministry and the industrial association Assomineraria.

This is not surprising: after all, this is the most comprehensive and recent element regarding energy elaborated by Italian government, and the fact that it was the MoED to touch upon it was reassuring (with Franco Terlizzese and Simona Vicari). The message is clear: it is an uncontested fact that Italy takes control after months of political and governance-related uncertainties. Nonetheless, it will be recorded in the minutes that although the NES is a complex document in which all the energy resources were referred to, there is still a long way to go before it is implemented. There were numerous references to the aspect of safety, in view of the fact that the European directive on that matter will be adopted soon. This topic was discussed at the closing session on the third day, and it focused on the Macondo incident. In this respect, the operators ensured that Italy is an example of best practices at the international level. Such an issue was also strongly reflected in the aspect of employment and conservation of “Italianess” as a recognized guarantee of high quality engineering.

This generally referred to the entire cluster, and thus to a new concept of energy, not as a separate world, but a sphere that can co-exist or even re-launch other economic activities such as tourism and sustainability. In short, there is expected a shift from the energy mix to the economic one. The latter was clearly identified in Ravenna, the art city hosting that event. We wish that the step towards the new concept of energy, and above all the energy mix, could nicely match with green oil and greener nuances of the renewables and sustainability. However, this will be possible only through a real balance and integration among the parties concerned, whereas only the NES is not sufficient.     

Look at the video interviews http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdpPdZYnyVCfoYrEp82DOizEcNVUtNDj5