Over the course of two and a half days, delegates attended a two-stream conference program, learnt about the latest technology and policy developments, made new business contacts at the many networking functions, and met with featured companies at the largest FutureGAS exhibition to date.

Of the visitors, approximately 150 were first timers to the event. Attendees came from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands and China.

The event continues to gain momentum, with interest and attending numbers growing from year to year. This year’s conference saw attendance numbers rise to over 700, – double that of the 2010 event, which had 317 attendees.

This trajectory wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Platinum Sponsor MWM, who have supported the event since its inception, as well as Gold Sponsors Tremco Pipeline Equipment and CNC Project Management, and other key sponsors.

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Benefitting from local and international knowledge

The 2012 conference program included presentations from key Australian industry figures spanning the entire breadth of the natural gas industry, including Queensland Gas Commissioner Kay Gardiner, EnergyQuest’s Graeme Bethune, Energy Networks Association’s Dale Weber, Australian Pipeline Industry Association’s Cheryl Cartwright, ABMARC’s Natalie Roberts, and the Industry Capability Network’s Jim Walker.

The program also involved international speakers such as Capital Eight’s Joanne Wood who outlined China’s 12th five-year plan, and Frac Knowledge’s Tim Leshchyshyn who discussed hydraulic fracturing methods used in Canada.

Exhibition

This year, the FutureGAS Exhibition moved to a larger exhibition hall. The hall housed 42 exhibiting companies.

Not only did delegates take advantage of the many companies highlighting their products and services, but 390 trade visitors from companies such as QGC, Honeywell, Worley Parsons and Origin Energy also took advantage of the exhibition.

Social program

2012 provided a diverse social program aimed at attracting a wide range of people involved in Australia’s natural gas industry.

This included the Opening Cocktails, the Engineers at the Exhibition Drinks, the Women in Energy: Gas Networking Breakfast, the Foreign Trade Business Lunch hosted by the Shadow Minister for Energy Ian Macfarlane, and the annual FutureGAS Gala Dinner.

The Gala Dinner, sponsored by CNC Project Management, was as always a stand-out evening, and for the first time included the FutureGAS Awards recognising achievements in innovation, skills development and personal achievement.

Gala Dinner MC Kerry O’Keefe kept guests entertained with his quick wit and trademark laugh, at the Victoria Park Golf Club, which overlooked the city.

Industry recognition

The inaugural FutureGAS Awards were sponsored by Zinfra Group, who chose to take the opportunity to launch their new business at FutureGAS.

Zinfra Group Manager Gas Services NSW/ACT Richard Blagrove presented the awards at the Gala Dinner.

Recipient of the awards were:

  • Australian Pipeline Industry Association for the Skills Development Award
  • Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration – Chief Operating Officer Eastern Australia Rick Wilkinson for the Most Outstanding Achievement in the Natural Gas Industry Award
  • Dart Energy and Maria’s Farm Veggies combined heat and power glasshouse for the Innovation Award.

Working toward 2013

The FutureGAS team are now busy organising the 2013 FutureGAS event, with further plans to enhance the event’s unique focus on the entire vertical of Australia’s natural gas industry – via the conference program and the exhibition.