The August PVF Roundtable at the JW Marriott in Houston continued the quarterly meeting’s trend of large turnouts.
The meeting attracted 438 registrants and extended the string of 2013 Roundtables breaking the 400-person barrier to three. Attendees enjoyed the Roundtable’s signature nearly two-hour networking session prior to dinner and the official meeting program.
The attendance figure, though, wasn’t the only positive of the evening. Supply House Times columnist and ASA Industry Analyst Morris Beschloss presented his quarterly forecast and painted a favorable future for the industrial PVF sector.
“The best years for the United States are still to come and you are in the best sector in the industry,” he told the gathering. “Very few people are complaining they are doing worse than last year and we’re doing a little better than automatic pilot. There’s an upward trend. I’m an awful lot more optimistic than I was a year ago. We have a lot to look forward to in the next year.”
JOFREE Energy Consulting Principal and longtime energy columnist and analyst Carol Freedenthal was the evening’s featured speaker. Freedenthal’s presentation centered mainly on his 2013 energy hot topics, a sampling of which includes aggressive drilling programs on federal lands, U.S. energy independence, regulatory action, the Keystone XL pipeline and green energy. In Freedenthal’s opinion, the Keystone pipeline won’t make it because of environmental concerns.
“I hope I’m wrong,” he said. “We could definitely benefit from the business.”
Freedenthal ended his presentation with an interesting informal poll of audience members on five industry-related topics. The majority of attendees feel the U.S. can be energy independent, should be an exporter of liquefied natural gas, should not depend on green energy sources and should import and refine Canadian crude oil. The audience did not think human actions cause climate change.
“The prospect of U.S. energy independence is strong,” he said.
New PVF Roundtable members include Amino Transport, Federal Flange, LE Commodities and Trenton Pipe Nipple.
PVF Roundtable President Danny Westbrook revealed the organization’s involvement in the annual TroutBlast fishing event. TroutBlast started 10 years ago with the purpose of developing a strong bond between people in the oil and gas industry. Westbrook said the Roundtable will eventually take over running the tournament. The Roundtable also hosts the annual Don Caffee Memorial Golf Tournament each May.
This year’s TroutBlast takes place Oct. 10 and 11 in Matagoda Bay, Texas. For more details, visit www.troutblast.com.
Westbrook also announced the establishment of a PVF Roundtable Leadership Award. The first recipient will be honored at the February 2014 meeting.
The final PVF Roundtable of 2013 takes place Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the JW Marriott in Houston. For more information on the PVF Roundtable, visit www.pvf.org.
