I think it is safe to say that Hart Energy has the unconventional arena pretty well covered. We expanded our DUG franchise to seven conferences this year and will continue to add more as new areas open up. E&P features an unconventional report every month focusing on some of the hottest new plays.
But we have not turned our backs on the offshore side of the industry, acquiring Deepwater International in 2012. Our latest acquisition is Subsea Engineering News (SEN), a UK-based publication that focuses on the subsea market.
SEN is published by Knighton Enterprises Ltd. Knighton’s founder and editorial director, Steve Sasanow, has written for the newsletter since 1984 and has owned it since 1987.
“It was founded the year after Esso and Shell were working on the underwater manifold center,” Sasanow said. “That was the first really big subsea development in the North Sea.”
The newsletter has thrived, he said, partly because the publisher foresaw the potential of the subsea market and was located near the center of activity. Sasanow realized early on that, despite the title containing the word “engineering,” there was more to subsea than just the technology. “It’s important to understand the technology but also the market,” he said. “This set SEN apart from the rest of the publications.”
By immersing himself in the technical aspects of subsea operations, Sasanow has gained enough insight to spot trends and know when something is new. He also has had great success putting on technical conferences and even serving as an expert witness in a patent infringement lawsuit.
One of his conferences was held following the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. “One of the key recommendations of the Cullen inquiry was to develop subsea emergency shutdown systems,” Sasanow said, adding that the explosion was not what led to the deaths of the 167 people; rather, it was a connection to a 40-km (25-mile) pipeline that fed the fire with natural gas, essentially melting the platform.
“In 1989 I organized a one-day seminar on subsea emergency shutdown systems,” he said. “We addressed this issue and had a packed room full of operators and equipment manufacturers to discuss a subject that nobody had discussed in public before.”
Sasanow is thrilled about the contract with Hart Energy and excited about the future of subsea engineering. “It’s a fascinating industry,” he said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have stuck around all these years.”
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