Coronavirus outbreak: Major oil and gas conference in US postponed

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which is one of the world's largest oil and gas conferences has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The conference was originally supposed to be held in Houston in the United States. The conference attracts thousands of visitors each year.

Conference postponed

According to reports, the organisers of the event have stated that the conference has been postponed to the third quarter of 2020. The event will now take place sometime in August or in September. The organisers of the even released a statement that said: "By postponing rather than cancelling OTC, we aim to preserve the significant work of the programme committee and authors to prepare for this conference, as well as minimize the economic impact this decision will have on the businesses in Houston and throughout the industry".

According to reports, the conference drew about 60,000 visitors last year and this year was scheduled to take place May 4 to May 7 at NRG Centre in Houston in the United States. The announcement also said that the "rapidly changing guidance from governments and companies" was a real factor in their decision to postpone the event.

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The statement also added that the health and safety of their partners, attendees, exhibitors, staff and community was of utmost importance and that the organiser's heart goes out to all those that were affected by the virus already.

As per reports, the OTC is a series of conferences and exhibitions that are focused on exchanging technical knowledge that is relevant to the development of offshore energy. Due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, countless events that attract significant groups of people together are being cancelled as health officials encourage social distancing.

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The death toll from the deadly coronavirus globally has crossed 6,500. According to sources, there was a recent spike in deaths in Spain that pushed the death toll past the 6,000 mark. Over 1,69,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide. Italy has become the epicentre of the virus in Europe and has reported a total of 24,747 cases.