The industry publication Offshore Engineer is celebrating 40 years of publication with the limited release of a Monopoly board game customized to the offshore technology industry.

"All the news hasn't been good in the industry lately, and this has been a fun way to celebrate and promote it," Brion Palmer, president and chief operating officer of Atlantic Communications Media, said at the 2015 Offshore Technology Conference Monday.

The media company licensed the Monopoly game design from Hasbro and then sold sponsorships for various properties around the board - which in the original are railroads, utilities and streets in Atlantic City, N.J. For the offshore version, Mexican state oil company Pemex bought Park Place. A number of Houston companies also are properties available for players to purchase, including equipment maker FMC Technology, which claimed Boardwalk - the priciest property on the original board.

Instead of paying the traditional luxury tax, players pay oil and gas royalties.

Gone are the familiar top hat, race car and wheelbarrow game tokens. Players cruise around the board as a scuba diver, safety helmet, drilling ship or remote operated vehicle, buying companies for barrels of oil.

Houses are crude oil black, and hotels are golden yellow, Offshore Engineer's trademark color.

"Chance became Exploration, which is a chance proposition, and Production is Community Chest, which hopefully is a payoff," Palmer said.

Even oil barons appreciate free parking, especially with lots outside NRG Stadium charging $12 a day, and can still go directly to jail, without passing Go and without collecting 200 barrels of oil.

OTC attendee Lisa Riley with Houston-based Agility Technology Logistics bought a set at the conference. She recalled playing a game called King Oil sold in the 1970s.

"It was really fun," she said. "You had to buy property and drill for oil."

Her brother collects Monopoly sets, so the game may ultimately become a Christmas present, she said.

Only 5,000 sets of the offshore technology version of the game were made, and OTC attendees can take them home for $50 a set.

Palmer hopes that attendees will play the game with their children to show them what Mom or Dad does for a living and to get them excited about potential careers in oil and gas exploration.

"You think about it, Monopoly in many cases is their first exposure to the business world, they're buying and selling properties, they're paying taxes," Palmer said. "The game, we're hoping, will be a way of promoting the industry, but at the same time educate the next generation of oil and gas professionals, because it's still a great career option."

As a business publication, Offshore Engineer is subject to the same ebbs and flows as the industry it covers. But Palmer sees a good roll ahead despite low oil prices now.

"The industry has always gone through cycles," he said. "This cycle feels a little bit different than the previous cycle. But we're starting to see a little bit of a rebound. The thought is hopefully the next 12 to 18 months will be a pretty good recovery."

Source: www.houstonchronicle.com

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