CMCS holds seminar on sustaining Gulf oil projects

Gulf upstream oil investments have increased by 9% from $188bn in June 2008 to a currently estimated $204bn. The UAE, the owner of the 5th largest oil reserve in the Middle East, leads the regional upstream surge, boosting O&G expenditures by 30% from $42bn to $55bn. Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude oil exporter, intends to handle more than 720 billion barrels of discovered oil resources.

Qatar has hiked O&G investments to $10bn, committing to an 11% increase in upstream gas investments. Kuwait, the most hydrocarbon-dependent country in the region has allocated $40bn to O&G exploration, while Oman aims to expand crude oil production to 800,000 barrels per day.

Bassam Samman, CEO and Founder of CMCS, said:

"Given today's volatile business and market conditions, O&G companies need to adopt extra vigilance in ensuring that their projects meet operational and financial targets. Through this event we aim to create a forum for identifying and discussing best project management practices that will help owners, operators and oil field services companies remain competitive amidst a thriving Arab O&G industry."

The seminar will address sector-wide challenges to emphasize the need for heightened financial scrutiny in the planning and execution of the sector's projects amidst the global economic crisis. CMCS experts will deliver a presentation on 'Optimizing Project & Portfolio Management and Reducing Uncertainty through Project Risk Management,' while Oracle will deliver insight into Enhancing Asset Lifecycle Management through Better Routine & Complex Maintenance Practices.'

CMCS will outline sound project and portfolio management practices to assess, prioritize and select projects; manage, model and assess risk; optimize routine, complex and capital work; access real-time data and respond to rapid changes; collaborate throughout the enterprise; and integrate Enterprise Asset Management, Application Lifecycle Management and Enterprise Resource Planning systems.

CMCS services mainly the engineering and construction, power, energy and process, high technology and telecommunication, and public and government sectors. The company was able to post an impressive 60% growth in 2008 despite the financial crisis. CMCS has set up offices in UAE, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt to strengthen its presence in the rapidly growing Arab project management consultancy market.