Wednesday 21 October 1998

North Sea Oil’s Festival Success!

Do they really use North Sea Oil in chocolate?; These fact sheets will be really useful for my school project; That was really cool better than Disneyland!; Can I have another go please?

These comments typically sum up the publics response to UK Offshore Operators Associations (UKOOA) North Sea Oil exhibition stand at the International Festival of the Sea which took place in Portsmouth Harbour over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The Industrys presence at the four-day long Festival quickly built up long queues outside the stand from the moment doors opened, with visitors willingly waiting for up to an hour and a half for a ride on the North Sea Oil simulator.

In all nearly 5,200 people took the dizzying virtual journey from FPSO to sea bed and back to land again via pipeline and petrol pump nozzle, encountering offshore personnel en route as well as seals, deep sea scorpion fish and conger eels.

Over 25,000 North Sea Oil chocolates and more than 3,000 stickers were given away, while a brisk business in fact sheets kept the crowd outside occupied with something to read while they waited.

Inside the stand, video monitors displaying the story of oil and key facts about the industry provided a lively atmosphere. The North Sea message was strengthened by giant posters from UKOOAs recent advertising campaign and furthered sharpened by the dominating presence of a half-ton model of Phillips Maureen platform.

We were delighted with the publics response to our stand, said Steve Harris, UKOOA Director of Communications. The International Festival of the Sea is a high profile event, this year attracting over half a million visitors. UKOOA has never before participated in such an occasion and any fears about how the industry might have been received proved to be unfounded. Instead we saw genuine interest in what we do and how we do it.

This has confirmed our view that exhibitions are a cost-effective means of getting our message across to a mass audience. We will certainly be looking for further opportunities to take North Sea Oil to public events for next year.

The stands success was due to a truly collaborative effort by UKOOA member companies. Thanks must go to BP for the loan of their simulator ride software; Elf for video footage; Phillips for the model of Maureen; Texaco for graphic images used on information panels and to individual employees of Phillips, ARCO, Agip, Lasmo, Amerada Hess and Murphy who gave up their free time to help on the stand.

For more information, please call 020 7802 2400.