Qatar's energy leaders to discuss industry 'Game Changers' at 4th Doha Forum

The two-day forum will explore how the global energy industry is adapting to a series of game-changers, including the so-called U.S. shale revolution and the rise of independent energy companies, that could trigger the biggest transformation in the energy landscape since $10 oil in the 1990s.

"Qatar is an important global energy hub and the Doha Energy Forum provides an excellent opportunity for industry representatives to discuss changes and developments in the local and global energy environment," said Sheikh Faisal Al-Thani, Deputy Managing Director, Maersk Oil Qatar, which currently produces around one-third of Qatar's daily oil production.

"Maersk Oil is a long-term partner with Qatar Petroleum and the State of Qatar and is therefore pleased to encourage on-going dialogue between industry peers to help share knowledge and ideas."

Giving insight to the discussions ahead of the forum Sean Evers, Managing Partner at Gulf Intelligence, said: "In the wake of $100 oil in recent years we are witnessing a new transformation in the energy industry, less defined perhaps than the takeovers of the 1990s, but potentially as dramatic. Supermajors are slimming down; independents are joining forces and pioneering exploration; service companies are taking on IOC activities; NOCs are becoming IOCs and the development of shale oil & gas has become a global conversation."

Today many NOCs, especially from Asia, are expanding beyond their national boundaries and competing for assets overseas - the arrival of China National Petroleum Corporation and Korea National Oil Corporation into the Gulf's upstream energy sector are two good examples. If NOCs present a challenge from above to the world's largest publicly traded energy companies, known as supermajors, independent energy companies may challenge their space from below, industry leaders say.

"Independents will make an ever bigger impact - with prices high they can attract capital and have a natural propensity for risk and ability to move quickly that means that they will remain the Super Majors biggest competitor for new access and new exploration opportunity," said Dr. Tony Hayward, CEO of Genel Energy and the former CEO of BP.

In 2000, shale gas represented just 1% of American natural gas supplies. Today, it is 30% and rising, and triggering energy prices to fall. While the scale of Shale oil could be even greater than gas, with some forecasts claiming there exists 8 barrels of crude locked in shale rock for each 1 barrel of conventional oil. The International Energy Agency's most recent World Energy Outlook predicted that the US will lead the world in both oil and natural gas production by the end of the decade, overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The former two-time Governor of Massachusetts Mr. William Weld, who most recently was a senior energy advisor to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, will give a keynote speech at The 4th Doha Energy Forum entitled U.S. Energy Independence -- Could it Change the World as We Know it?

"I do think it's fair to say that the U.S. could well be a net exporter of energy by as soon as 2020, 2025. It may not be LNG, liquefied natural gas, as some people are predicting, there are logistic issues there. But I think overall we should be a net exporter," said Governor Weld.

s"The prospect of U.S. energy independence is compelling many to ask questions such as will the U.S. Fifth Fleet turn tail and steam out of Bahrain and head right back to the Gulf of Mexico, or perhaps east to Japan. And the answer is: nah, it's not going to happen."

ExxonMobil Qatar and Qatar Shell will lead a broad range of international companies attending the Forum, alongside their counterparts from Qatar Petroleum and their joint venture companies.