ITF debates collaboration at Doha Energy Forum

ITF regional director for the Middle East and Asia Pacific, Ryan McPherson, will sit on a speaker panel discussing this topic at the event being held at the Texas A&M University in Qatar on 6 and 7 March.

The forum, which will be attended by key parties in the region's oil industry, will discuss and debate the challenges and opportunities facing the energy industry over the next two decades, especially in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis and the increasing importance of Asia as a global energy player.

The panel discussion is entitled 'How to move the Qs beyond CSR to build long-term partnerships'. This will look at the need to develop long-term partnerships that build national capacity for a knowledge economy, which will involve investment in the future to help align all of Qatar's stakeholders around one strategy.

He said: "This is a hugely important event for the region and will help to highlight the vision to establish Doha as a global hub for energy research and development in the aftermath of the release of the Qatar National Research Strategy.

"Developing local talent will help mitigate the pending skills shortage and will also help to prepare the region for an increased demand in energy resources.

"The Doha Energy Forum will be attended by representatives from all of the major organisations in the Middle East energy industry and will be a great opportunity to share ideas and best practice to benefit the region."

ITF has a base in Abu Dhabi and last year launched a Middle East cluster group to bring together oil and gas companies to collaboratively identify and tackle the specific technology challenges being faced in the region, such as water management, heavy oil, asset integrity, and enhanced oil recovery.

Member companies in the region include, Qatar Petroleum (QP), Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) as well as Houston based Aramco Services Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco.

ITF, the technology facilitator for the global oil and gas industry, is a not-for-profit organisation owned by 32 international oil and gas operator and service companies. It is the only global collaborative R&D funding programme operating across continents.

Since its formation in 1999, the organisation has facilitated the launch of almost 200 joint industry projects (JIPs) from early stage projects through to field trials and commercialisation. It aims to secure a further £50m for technologies by 2015.