High-profile speakers lined up for Heavy Oil Congress in Muscat
Muscat will welcome more than 500 conference delegates from over 40 countries at the World Heavy Oil Congress & Exhibition (WHOC), set to be held at the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre from September 3-5, 2018. Co-hosted by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and under the auspices of the Ministry of Oil & Gas, the annual Congress will address challenges and discuss opportunities across the heavy oil value chain through a two-day strategic conference, and a threeday technical conference alongside a three-day international exhibition.
Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas said, “Heavy oil contributes approximately 15 per cent of Oman’s oil production and is an important aspect of the industry, especially as we continue to innovate and pioneer novel EOR technologies to meet the evolving demands of producing heavy oil. We know that as the heavy oil sector matures, opportunities for collaborations, innovation, and investment will also continue to advance and evolve.”
Despite a challenging economic environment, PDO is spearheading innovation and continuing to identify novel EOR techniques to maximise production from four active heavy oil fields with particular focus on the Amal West field and the Miraah Solar plant. It is anticipated that by 2025 more than 23 per cent of PDO’S production will come from EOR projects.
The Strategic Conference will cover 10 diverse topics on investments, creating agile business models, collaboration between heavy oil producing countries, and unlocking refining potential and value chain performance.
Some of the key conference speakers include: Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy, Minister of Oil & Gas, Sultanate of Oman; Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Khalifa, Minister of Oil, Kingdom of Bahrain; Raoul Restucci, Managing Director, Petroleum Development Oman; Dr Bakheet al Katheeri, CEO, Mubadala Petroleum; Steve Kelly, President & General Manager, Occidental Mukhaizna; Giuseppe Ricci, Chief Refining & Marketing Officer, ENI SPA, S M Farouq Ali, Professor of Petroleum Engineering, University of Houston; and Dr SK Majumdar, Executive Director (Refining & Technology), Indian Oil R&D.
The Technical Conference will encourage greater knowledge exchange and networking where attendees can expect to gain knowledge of upstream, midstream and downstream heavy oil projects, new technologies and services through over 80 technical case studies and presentations from across the globe.
Petroleum Engineering Function Director at Petroleum Development Oman and Co Chairman of World Heavy Oil Congress & Exhibition 2018, Dr Ali al Gheithy said, “It is a great opportunity for Oman to host this prestigious event in Muscat. Oman is already exploiting a lot of its heavy oil resources and this trend will continue and expand in the future. Oman has ongoing full field developments of heavy oil using both thermal and chemical (polymer flood) processes — this is a significant part of Oman’s daily production. So, we have several areas of our experiences to share as well as learn from all our visitors who will be attending.”
Jean-philippe Cossé Vicepresident, Middle East at DMG events the organiser of WHOC said, “We are both proud and excited to be hosting the 2018 edition of the Congress in the Middle East for the very first time, which is home to one third of the world’s heavy and extra heavy oil resources. It will act as an invaluable platform for the global heavy oil industry to gather and learn from each other.”
He added, “The Sultanate enjoys high quantity petroleum production, a competitive infrastructure with global standards, and has future development plans to positively impact the country’s production. This, coupled with unrivaled hospitality, promises to make this year’s congress and exhibition a memorable one.”
WHOC will also host an international exhibition where regional and international NOCS, IOCS, service and technology providers will showcase the best technologies, products, and services for the heavy oil sector.
THE CONFERENCE WILL COVER 10 DIVERSE TOPICS ON INVESTMENTS, CREATING AGILE BUSINESS MODELS, COLLABORATION BETWEEN HEAVY OIL PRODUCING COUNTRIES, AND UNLOCKING REFINING POTENTIAL AND VALUE CHAIN PERFORMANCE.