Gastech 2009 - a resounding success

Attendance was up 78% on Gastech 2006 (also held in Abu Dhabi and attended by 5,752). Almost 1,400 gas professionals attended the Gastech 2009 conference; and the Gastech exhibition was the largest-ever, featuring 387 exhibitors from 37 countries and spanning over 13,000m2 (net space)

"This was a tremendous result and far exceeded our expectations," said Event Director Tony Stephenson of dmg world media (uk) ltd, organisers of the event.

"It was a great honour for Gastech that HH General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces toured the exhibition for over an hour and a half on our opening day, meeting exhibitors and hearing about their latest projects, and also meeting Martin Morgan, Chief Executive of DMGT (Daily Mail and General Trust plc) our parent company. We were delighted too that HE Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) met with Viscount Rothermere, Chairman of DMGT during the course of the show - Lord Rothermere then went on to tour the show.

"The conference got off to a flying start with ministerial addresses at our opening ceremony by HE Yousef Omair Bin Yousef CEO, Adnoc and its Group of Companies and Wannarat Channukul, Minister of Energy, Thailand. This ceremony was attended by delegates and VIPs who included HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and Chairman of ZonesCorp, HH Sheikh Hamid bin Zayed Al Nahyan; and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority HE Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan. Throughout the event our three track conference served as an important forum for updates and discussion on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.

"Naturally, the news that ConocoPhillips is poised to finalise the agreement on the Shah sour gas field development with Adnoc in June, opening the floodgates to $10bn of engineering and construction contracts, helped to set the very positive mood within the show, which saw our participants from all over the world learning, networking, selling and buying."

Other highlights included the spectacular networking events organised by hosts Adnoc and its Group of Companies, plus Chevron Global Gas; and the Gastech Award ceremony held during the lunch on Tuesday. This saw a Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Claudia Lakey on behalf of her husband Bob Lakey - the Award, which will now be known as the Bob Lakey Lifetime Achievement Award, will be awarded at future Gastechs. Excelerate Energy was awarded the Anzai Award and Exmar received the Ffooks Award. The Pipeline Excellence in Energy Awards were held at Gastech on the final day.

Encouraging the next generation of gas professionals

In an industry that has highlighted its own recruitment deficiency, Gastech's innovative Fuelling the Future programme sets out to help reverse that trend by bringing keen and eager minds directly Gastech to meet their sponsors; speakers; delegates and exhibitors. Twenty five students of 13 nationalities from 16 universities took full advantage of their tailor-made programme at Gastech 2009.

This year's Student programme was a resounding success with more than 300 students registering from 33 countries representing 105 worldwide universities. Two students attended the show having won the Gastech Student Programme Essay Competition the others have been generously sponsored by ABS, ADGAS, ExxonMobil, Fluor, KBR, Mitsui OSK Lines, Nigeria LNG, Oman LNG, Qatargas, RasGas and Yemen LNG.

Looking forward to Gastech 2011

Even before it opened, Gastech 2009 had broken records by attracting more pre-event registrations (7,000) than any other show in the long-standing series. Added to this, the Gastech exhibition was the largest ever held.

"Indeed, at over 13,000m2 (net space) it was over 4,000m2 larger than the 22nd Gastech held here in Abu Dhabi in December 2006, and larger too than the Bangkok show in 2008 - no mean feat in the current economic climate,"

says Tony Stephenson.

"Proof positive of the importance of LNG, LPG and natural gas to the world's energy requirements and the vital role played by Abu Dhabi, the UAE and region to meet global needs."

"I know I speak for all delegates, speakers, exhibitors and visitors when I thank Adnoc and its Group of Companies for the warm welcome they have given everybody involved with Gastech. I would also like to thank all our exhibitors and sponsors for their support, and everyone who has attended Gastech 2009 for being with us, and look forward to welcoming you to the silver jubilee edition of Gastech being held 21-24 March 2011 at the RAI in Amsterdam. I am delighted to be able to announce that during Gastech 2009 over 6,800m2 was reserved for the 2011 show, which is just over 50% of the net exhibition space available. Yes, Gastech goes from strength to strength!"