Firm foundations laid for Gastech 2006

The 22nd event in the series is being held 4-7 December 2006 at the Emirates Palace and Abu Dhabi International Exhibition Centre (ADIEC) in Abu Dhabi, UAE; and will be hosted by ADNOC - the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company - and their group of companies, particularly ADGAS and GASCO. Dolphin Energy are co-hosts of the event, while the General Exhibition Corporation is an Associate of Gastech 2006

The first Gastech Programme Advisory Committee (PAC) was held 19 September in Abu Dhabi to discuss the development of the 2006 conference programme, which is linked to the theme of 'Industry Challenges and Managing the Growth'. This discussion was set against the background of an encouraging response to the call for papers, and the fact that 70% of exhibition space has already been sold with fourteen months to go before the event opens.

"We had a highly stimulating PAC meeting attended by two senior representatives of our host organisations, Ismail Al Ramahi, Manager Gas Processing Division of ADNOC and Rashid Saif Al Jarwan, General Manager of ADGAS," explains Gastech's Event Director, Tony Stephenson of dmg world media (uk) ltd. "The stimulating and far ranging meeting was chaired by Chris Clucas of Dorchester Maritime LNG and Paul Young of Exmar, ably assisted by Conference Producer, Lynne Evans. In addition to our host organisations, Dorchester Maritime and Exmar, the PAC is drawn from senior representatives of American Petroleum Institute; BP Gas, Power & Renewables; Chevron Global Gas; ConocoPhillips; ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company; GEC; KBR Energy & Chemicals; Qatargas; Robert J Lakey & Associates (Bob Lakey is the Honorary PAC Chairman); Shell Global Solutions; Tokyo Gas Procurement & Trading; Total; and Whessoe Oil and Gas

"Judging by the early response to our call for papers, the PAC is again going to have a lot to consider early next year when we get down to detailed programme planning," he adds. "This is a key time for the international gas industry and the Gastech 2006 conference will reflect current challenges and opportunities to the full. Over 5,300 senior gas industry decision makers including over 1,800 delegates and 298 exhibiting companies from 33 countries attended Gastech 2005 in Bilbao, Spain in March 2005 breaking all previous records. We're aiming even higher for Abu Dhabi next year and with a dedicated PAC committee with great ideas; and 70% of the exhibition already sold we are well set to achieve our goal."

Topics addressed by the call for papers (which closes 31 January 2006) include:
• World Gas Supply and Demand, Forecast and Strategy
• Safety and Training for Ships and Terminals
• Natural Gas and LNG Projects, Development and Outlook
• Natural Gas and LNG Facilities, including Storage, Regasification, Floating and Offshore
• Gas to Liquids, Methanol, DME, CNG and Alternative Fuels
• Natural Gas and the Environment
• Governmental Issues - From Policy Framework to Safety and Environmental Issues to Project Permitting
• LNG Shipping: Development, Technology, Crewing, Operations and Trends
• Technical Developments in Equipment and Processing
• Alternative Trading Models in the Gas Business
• The LPG and Petchem Gas Industry
• Finance and Legal Issues
• New Frontiers: Geographic and Technical

"The PAC meeting covered all the component parts of the conference that have made it so successful in its long and distinguished history," explains Conference Producer, Lynne Evans. "We discussed inspirational keynote speakers and industry keynote speakers - once again Gastech 2006 will feature daily keynote addresses that proved highly successful at Gastech 2005. Naturally, we also discussed many of the hot topics that members of the PAC will be looking out for under each of our session headings to ensure that our programme addresses all the challenges and opportunities that will be facing the industry in late 2006. From the tone of the meeting we are all convinced that Gastech 2006 has got off to a flying start!

"We are looking forward to two innovations decided upon by the PAC - a half day session on LPG; and another half day session on Natural Gas and the Environment. The meeting also discussed the two Gastech awards - the Anzai Award given in recognition of a company's significant contributions to, and achievements in, the development of the international gas industry; and the Ffooks Award given in recognition of a company's significant contributions to, and achievements in, the development of gas technology. We already have Award nominations and look forward to receiving even more over the coming months."

The ideal venue

Traditionally Gastech alternates between importing and exporting countries - hence Bilbao in 2005 and then the move to Abu Dhabi in 2006. The gas business in Abu Dhabi will almost double in the next five years as gas processing capacity exceeds 7 bscfd - a trend that is set to continue for many years to come.

The United Arab Emirates is one of the world's leading owners of gas reserves, which ADNOC has developed both onshore and offshore for export as LPG and LNG, supply to local electricity and water utilities, supply to other industries including petrochemical plants, and for re-injection into reservoirs to improve oil and condensate production.