PennWell Acquires Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference, Joins Forces with Geospatial Industry Association GITA

TULSA, Okla., March 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- PennWell Corporation, a diversified global media and information company, announced today that it has acquired the Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference from Willbros Engineers and entered into an agreement with the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) to produce the annual conference and exhibition bringing together practitioners, suppliers, and solution providers in the oil and gas industry.  The 22^nd annual Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference will be held October 28-30, 2013 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Houston.  Terms of the agreements with Willbros and GITA were not disclosed.

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GITA founded the Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference in 1991 and developed the conference into an important technical event for the oil and gas pipeline sector.  For the October 2012 Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference, GITA partnered with Willbros Engineers to conduct the event as GITA completed its transition to an all-volunteer organization.  Over 350 industry professionals attended the October 2012 Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference in Houston, which also had 55 exhibitors and sponsors.  The annual event includes multiple conferences and networking sessions.

Robert F. Biolchini, president and CEO of PennWell, said, "We are enthusiastic  about the opportunity to work with GITA with the goal of rapidly accelerating the growth of the Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference and we also look forward to the ongoing support of Willbros and other sponsors of the event.  The pipeline and transportation sectors of the industry are experiencing phenomenal growth due to the resurgence of exploration and drilling in North America, and we intend to leverage PennWell's publishing assets and event expertise of our editorial staff of the Oil & Gas Journal, Offshore, and Oil & Gas Financial Journal in a close collaboration with GITA to expand the conference and preserve the standard of quality in conference content established by GITA over the last 21 years."

GITA President Talbot Brooks noted that the Association is excited about joining forces with PennWell.  He said, "Our partnership brings together the industry leader in publishing and the industry leader in professional geospatial education for the international oil and gas industry.  It's the best from two worlds coming together to produce and expand the Oil & Gas Pipeline conference in 2013 and beyond.  We are honored to be associated with such a respected publisher and producer of international conferences and exhibitions, and confident this new and exciting partnership with PennWell will benefit our membership and expand our reach in serving our constituencies and the entire industry."

Biolchini said that the Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference will be managed by Mark Peters, vice president and group publishing director of PennWell's Offshore and Oil & Gas Financial Journal magazines and the Company's domestic events, including Subsea Tieback Forum & Exhibition, Deepwater Operations Forum & Exhibition, and Topsides, Platforms & Hulls Forum & Exhibition. 

PennWell's portfolio of conferences and exhibitions also includes Deep Offshore Technology (DOT), the world's oldest and leading event for deepwater and hazardous environments, Offshore Middle East, Offshore Asia, Offshore West Africa, PetroWorld India, and Oil Sands Heavy Oil Technologies in Canada.  PennWell also publishes Oil & Gas Journal, the world's leading international news and technology magazine published weekly since 1902 and currently serving over 108,000 paid subscribers.

About PennWell Corporation

Founded in 1910 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, PennWell Corporation is a privately held and highly diversified business-to-business media and information company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries:  Oil and gas, electric power generation and delivery, hydropower, renewable energy, water and wastewater treatment, waste management, electronics, semiconductor manufacturing, optoelectronics, fiber-optics, aerospace and avionics, LEDs and lighting, fire and emergency services, public safety, and dental.  PennWell publishes over 130 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, websites, research and database services.  In addition to PennWell's headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Company has major offices in Nashua, New Hampshire; London, England; Houston, Texas; San Diego and Mountain View, California; Fairlawn, New Jersey; Moscow, Russia; and Hong Kong, China.

About GITA

The Geospatial Information & Technology Association, since its founding in 1982 as a formal not-for-profit organization, has embraced the mission of providing geospatial solutions in education, information exchange, and applied research on the use and benefits of geospatial information and technology for worldwide infrastructure.  The industries that GITA serves are defined as infrastructure-based organizations that can benefit from the application of geospatial information technologies, including oil and gas, utilities, telecommunications, and the public sector.

Contact: Jayne Gilsinger

918-832-9303; [email protected]

SOURCE PennWell Corporation