OG&C3 conference 2008 follows success of Oil & Gas Connectivity conference

O&GC3 takes place five weeks after the recent highly successful conclusion to the Aberdeen conference Oil & Gas Connectivity: Digital Applications & Communications Dynamics' which was also organised by UK-EMP with the support of GVF.

In common with the Aberdeen event, the Cairo conference has achieved the support of principal sponsor Schlumberger.

Hughes, Advantech Satellite Networks and Hermes Datacomms are also sponsors of O&GC3.

O&GC3 will feature a two-day programme - designed to be regionally complementary to the earlier Aberdeen conference - which has already attracted the registration of sizable delegations from Saudi Aramco, the world's largest producer, and Petrojet, a multi disciplinary, integrated construction contractor specialising in petroleum related projects in the MENA region.

Also to attend will be delegates from International Egyptian Petroleum Company (IEOC), the Eni/Egytian National Petroleum Company (ENPC) j/v, Dolphin Energy, Ganope Petroleum, Khalda, Suez RBO, and Centurion, amongst others.

From the solutions provider community, the organisers have confirmed the involvement of Schlumberger, Hughes Network Systems, Advantech Satellite Networks, Hermes Datacomms, Caprock Communications, Thales Alenia, Intelsat, Eutelsat, Radyne, Newtech, UDCast, YahSat and Satcom Group - with additional companies registering daily.

A series of 12 themed panel sessions, together with a number of "Showcase" presentations, will comprise the Cairo programme.

In detail, the 12 themes for 'Oil & Gas Communications: North Africa & the Middle East' are as follows:


- Application & Technology Dynamics: From SCADA to Broadband Data Networking - An Overview
- Communications Infrastructures Alternatives in the $100+ Barrel Environment: Investing in Future Mission Critical Delivery
- Enablers of the 21st Century 'Digital Oilfield'
- Regulatory & Licensing Solutions: National & Regional Answers in an Oil & Gas Wireless World
- Local & Global Connectivity Links: Fibre & Wireless Factors for Oil & Gas Business
- Integrated Solutions from the First to the Last Mile
- New Training Dynamics for Oil & Gas Communications
- Platform-Technology Neutrality in E&P Applications Development
- Real-Time Remote Collaboration & Operations Support Centre Networking
- Communications Terminals: Installation, Maintenance & Performance Metrics Case Studies
- Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity & Environmental Impact in North African & Middle Eastern Oil & Gas
- The Energy Industries & GVF Market Sector Initiatives

"The Cairo conference programme is an excellent development of the 'Oil & Gas Connectivity: Digital Applications & Communications Dynamics' conference", commented Paul Stahl, Managing Partner of UK-EMP. "Following two successful Cairo events in 2006 and 2007, and now the 2008 Aberdeen conference, the GVF/UK-EMP partnership has established the premier regional oil & gas communications events for Europe as well as for North Africa & Middle East."

O&GC3 will provide extended networking opportunities between key leaders of oil & gas companies, the vendors of cutting-edge oil & gas industry applications, and the suppliers of state-of-the-art communications links.

The conference will create opportunities for companies in the oil & gas vertical to call upon all ICT solutions providers - terrestrial wireline, wireless, and satellite, in the communications field, together with developers/vendors in the digital applications field - to match their offerings more closely to the specific demands and requirements of the oil & gas patch.

"The complex interrelationship between oil & gas sector applications supply, and the communications infrastructures required to support and deliver them, will be comprehensively investigated" remarked Martin Jarrold, GVF Chief of International Programme Development and Chairman of both the Aberdeen and Cairo conferences.

Mr. Jarrold further commented that "The O&GC3 programme poses an absolutely central question. How can satellite, and non-satellite, communications solutions help 'enable the digital oilfield' The dialogue around this question will go beyond what is implicit in the 'enabling of the digital oilfield' - that is, the imperative requirement for systems resilience and data security - to analyse today's communications product and service environment within which the players in the solutions vendor community compete to satisfy the efficiency and data risk-management needs of the buyers of Digital Oilfield ICT solutions in the E & P environment."

He concluded, "Our Cairo dialogue will also consider how the use of different communications platforms is helped, hindered, and determined by geographically determined supply factors, as well as an analysis of the potential for spectrum allocation conflicts between terrestrial wireless and satellite solutions in different parts of the global oil & gas patch.

In combination with the consideration of key regulatory and licensing issues, the Cairo dialogue will reflect facets of the oil & gas operating environment of North Africa & the Middle East that are quite different to the European environment covered in Aberdeen."