Offshore Middle East 2013 launches official opening ceremony

The Opening Plenary also saw the presentation by Wael Sawan, Managing Director and Chairman of Qatar Shell to the winner of the Student Paper Program, Mr. Manzoor Roome, Texas A&M University who went ton to present his winning abstract, Qatar Protection Of Offshore Operations From Cyber-Threats By Improved SCADA Security during the afternoon's conference session, LNG/Gas Operations 1.

This year celebrates the inaugural Shell Student Paper Program which consists of a poster session display of finalist abstracts to showcase regional engineering talent and student development in regional universities and allow university students to meet with technical experts in their fields of study.

Organised by PennWell in conjunction with co-host Qatar Petroleum, Offshore Middle East 2013 hosts an impressive line up of more than 60 eminent international chairs and speakers and over 40 exhibitors from 20 countries. Regional and international perspectives about topical offshore oil & gas issues and opportunities for future growth and development will be presented along with new and innovative solutions using pioneering technology to overcome the financial, resource and environmental challenges facing today's power and water industry.

H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry in his keynote speech said: "Today we have the opportunity to deliberate the latest issues and technical solutions related to the Offshore Industry, and benefit from high level presentations and discussions, specific to the region."

H.E. Dr. Al-Sada went on to say, "Oil and gas resources in the ground today are capable of meeting the current and increasing demand for the foreseeable future. The challenge is that most of these resources are difficult to tap with conventional methods. Today the oil & gas industry faces the biggest need ever for new ideas, new paradigms and new innovative technologies, particularly in the offshore area to overcome the constraints of the conventional approach if future world energy demands are to be met".

In his speech and welcome address, Mr. Mubarak A. Al-Hajri, Operations Manager-Offshore Fields, Qatar Petroleum, said: "Today we face many challenges maintaining our capabilities with the sustainable development of our resources. Some of these challenges include asset integrity of aging facilities, re-development of mature fields, optimization of costs and managing HSE risks. These challenges are expected to be addressed in the conference."

David Paganie, Chief Editor, Offshore magazine, Director, Offshore Conferences, PennWell Corporation in his keynote speech said "We express our gratitude and appreciation to His Excellency for his Patronage and the Ministry and Qatar Petroleum for their full support. The event not only provides a unique concentration of expertise and technologies dedicated to the advancement of the offshore industry, but also addresses technological challenges associated with safely and cost effectively developing subsea resources".

Following the speeches, H.E. Dr. Al-Sada conducted an official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and opened the exhibition floor. The official proceedings were then followed by General Session: Operators Perspectives to kick start the conference program with insights and perspectives by Mr. Bart Cahir, President and General Manager, ExxonMobil Qatar Inc, Mr. Nasir K. Naimi, Vice President, Northern Area Oil Operations, Upstream, Saudi Aramco, Mr. Stephane Michel, Managing Director, TOTAL E&P Qatar, Mr. Wael Sawan , Executive Vice President, Qatar Shell and Mr. Lewis Affleck, Managing Director, Maersk Oil.

The event coincides with plans by GCC states to expand their oil and gas production capacity to face growing global demand. Estimates by OAPEC showed the GCC and other producers in the Middle East and North Africa could pump around $740bn into projects to develop their hydrocarbon and power sectors in the next five years. The report showed Saudi Arabia and the UAE account for nearly a third of the total investments, with an estimated $165bn and $107bn respectively GCC countries control more than 480 billion barrels of proven oil resources and 40 trillion cubic metres of natural gas ends,

The Offshore Middle East 2013 conference and exhibition is located at the Qatar National Convention Centre from 21-23 January 2013. Admission to the exhibition is free to all visitors of the event.

Topics up for discussion include Well Construction & Drilling Operation, Field Development - Asset Integrit, Reservoir Monitoring & ControlAsset Integrity LNG/Gas Operations - Pipelines/Flow Assurance, HSE & Risk Management, Geophysics and HR/Training.