Oil & gas industry professionals invited to the biggest ever edition of OGWA in Muscat

"The OGWA 2008 exhibition, which will feature companies from more than 20 countries worldwide, will showcase the widest range of innovative products, equipment and technologies for the region's vibrant oil & gas industry," said C.J. Paul, general manager of Omanexpo LLC, the leading organiser of trade and consumer shows in the sultanate.

Paul revealed that leading the list of exhibitors are national oil & gas companies in the GCC such as Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), Oman LNG, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Qatar Petroleum, the Bahrain Petroleum Company and the Bahrain National Gas Company.

The three-day exhibition, which will be held at the Oman International Exhibition Centre, will also feature major international oil & gas firms including BG Oman, BP Oman, Dolphin Energy, Occidental of Oman, Petrofac, Schlumberger, and Total S.A.

Omani companies that directly serve the oil & gas industry will also have a strong presence in the exhibition. Among these are Abraj Energy Services, Advanced Oilfield Technology Company, Development Services, Gulf Services & Industrial Supplies Co., Hi-Tech Services & Supplies, International Business Development, MB Holding Company, Oman Gas Company, Oman Oil Industry Supplies & Services Co., Oman National Engineering & Investment Co. SAOG, Oman Oilfields Supply Center, Oman Refineries and Petrochemicals Company, PTTEP Oman Company Limited, Riyam Engineering & Services, Seven Seas Petroleum, the Shaksy Group of Companies, Technical Supplies International, and Vanguard Engineering & Oilfield Services Co.

All in all, OGWA 2008 exhibitors will come from at least 22 countries, namely Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, UK and USA. The other major international exhibitors include the Arabian Pipes Company, Atlas Copco Services Middle East, Emirates General Petroleum Corporation, Globetech, Mott MacDonald & Company, Paglierani SpA, PCM of France, and Weatherford.

In addition to the exhibition, OGWA 2008 will also feature an international conference dubbed the "SPE EOR Conference at OGWA."

Also scheduled on April 21-23 and to be held at the Golden Tulip Hotel, the conference is being managed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), a non-profit professional association whose members from more than 115 countries worldwide are engaged in energy resources development and production.

The conference will bring together global experts in all forms of EOR techniques to present, share, and discus their experiences in the area.

The technical program will cover the latest advances in thermal, gas, and chemical EOR methods; EOR selection criteria; surveillance techniques for locating remaining oil; and drivers and challenges in implementing EOR. Several field pilots and case studies will also be part of the discussions.

According to the SPE, the conference presents a great opportunity for practicing engineers and geoscientists involved in E&P work, and managers, team leaders, technical professionals, and anyone who needs to improve recovery from their assets using EOR would greatly benefit from attending.

The conference committee is spearheaded by Khalifa Al Hinai of the Ministry of Oil & Gas as conference chairperson and Saif Al Hinai of PDO as the technical programme chairperson.

The members of the committee are Abdulaziz Al Kaabi of Saudi Aramco, Ali Al Gheity of PDO, Arafat Al Yafei of ADNOC, Bader Al Badi of ADMA-OPCO, Xu Dong Jing of Shell Technology Oman, John Edwards of Schlumberger, Mahmoud Al Hashmi of Halliburton, Mark Mahoney of Lufkin Industries, Suleiman Al Zakwani of Oman Oil, and S. Bhattacharya of the Oil & Natural Gas Company (ONGC), India.

The SPE EOR Conference at OGWA is supported by PDO and Saudi Aramco as the platinum sponsors as well as Occidental Petroleum and Schlumberger as the silver sponsors. The co-sponsors of the conference are the Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO), Calsep, Oman Gas Company (OGC), Partex Oil and Gas, Petrofac, Shell, Weatherford and Zakum Development Company (ZADCO).

On the other hand, the OGWA 2008 exhibition is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Oil & Gas and officially supported by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) as well as BG Oman as the platinum sponsor and BP Oman as the gold sponsor. The co-sponsors of the event are Oman LNG, Seven Seas Petroleum, Sharaf Shipping Agency, and Weatherford.

The event also has the backing of leading media companies including Pipeline Magazine as the official publication, MEED as the strategic partner, and Oil Review Middle East as the official magazine. The media partners of the event are Upstream, Arab Oil & Gas Magazine, Gulf Oil & Gas.com, Oil & Gas News, Argus Media, Biz Marine TV, theenergyinfo.com, and Business Today.