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Amsterdam November 6-9 The 10th International LNG/ LPG Conference & Exhibition, Gas- tech 84, will be held at the RAI Con- gress & Exhibition Centre in Am- sterdam, Netherlands, November 6- 9 this year. It will be the 10th meet- ing in this series of international LNG/LPG conferences that started in 1972 in London, and which has been held in various major cities in Europe and the U. S. Until 1976 the Gastech meetings were held annually but since that year have been held in two years out of three to avoid a conflict with the "LNG" series sponsored by the IGU/IGT/IIR and held every three years. The Gastech name was origi- nally coined for the third meeting of the series, held in Amsterdam in 1974. The 10th meeting, therefore, marks 10 years of the Gastech name and a 10th anniversary return to the RAI Congress Centre. Fittingly, the anniversary confer- ence program is the most compre- hensive in scope of the series, with nearly 60 papers scheduled for pre- sentation at seven sessions: World Gas Supplies, LPG Production & Trade, Safety & Training, Trans- Photo—Amsterdam harbor portation Technology & Operations, Commercial Documentation & Con- tracts, Liquefied Gas Terminals & Storage and Gases as Transporta- tion Fuels. Dr. George H.B. Verberg, di- rector-general for energy in the Ne- therlands Department of Economic Affairs, will make the opening re- marks and chair the first session of the conference. He presides over the Netherlands' gas industry—West- ern Europe's largest gas producer— that, based on the Groningen gas field, virtually launched the West- ern European natural gas market in the 1960s. Dr. Verberg will ad- dress his opening remarks to the global position of the Netherlands as a major gas supplier and consum- er, the impact of natural gas on the Dutch economy, and the broad lines of future export policy. A sizeable part of the internation- al liquefied gas community will be in Amsterdam for the Gastech 84 meeting. Total registration is ex- pected to top 2,000, comprising some 1,500 Conference delegates and 500 exhibitors—a 300-percent increase over the 1974 figure and the highest total ever registered for any meeting in the series. More than 50 countries will be represented in the Exhibition, with many of the major gas producers— Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Kuwait, Mexico, Canada, Norway, the U.K., the U.S., the Netherlands, Brazil, Qatar, and others—also represented on the Conference program. The combined South and West Halls of the RAI Exhibition Centre, totaling more than 9,000 square me- ters, will be the location for the Gas- tech 84 Exhibition, which is an inte- gral part of the event. Nearly 150 displays from all over the world will be staged in the exhibition halls, making this by far the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of LNG/LPG technology, equipment, and services ever held. Among the notable exhibits will be a number of large, national group displays, in- cluding France, Great Britain, and West Germany. A technical visits program has been arranged to enable groups of delegates to see various aspects of gas industry activities in the Low Countries. Visits include an inspec- tion of the Wieringermeer compres- sor and blending station of N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie; a tour of the inert gas generator production and testing facilities of Smit Ovens Gas Generators (formerly Holec) at Nij- megen; and, crossing the Dutch frontier into Belgium, an inspection of the impressive new LPG importa- tion and storage facilities of the Antwerp Gas Terminal Company. With the intensive Conference program, the comprehensive Exhi- bition, and the technical visits keep- ing delegates busy during working hours, they are encouraged to relax and meet other gas industry execu- tives in a convivial atmosphere at two Gastech parties: a Welcome Party on the first day at the conclu- sion of Conference and Exhibition activities, and an official Cocktail Buffet Reception for delegates and their ladies on the following eve- ning. This latter event, traditionally the social highlight of the Gastech meeting, will be sponsored this year by Poten and Partners, New York and London, and hosted by senior director Michael Tusiani and his colleagues. The Gastech 84 meeting begins with delegate registration in the RAI Congress Centre on Monday, November 5, from 3 to 6 p.m. The Exhibition opens at 9 a.m. on No- vember 6, and the Conference starts 18 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
