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The 16th Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, MEOS 2009 takes place at a time when the petroleum sector faces challenges as never before in the wake of a severe global economic downturn that is crippling world growth.
During these testing times, the industry addresses two main questions - should it invest against the backdrop of falling oil prices; and what is the fate of ambitious projects that are already under construction?
For projects that are in a preliminary stage, national oil companies like Saudi Aramco and Adnoc have called a halt in a bid to scale down expenditure by renegotiating terms when projects costs are coming down.
Projects that need to take off will benefit from lower construction costs and the watchword for promoters and contactors alike is 'cost effectiveness'.
MEOS offers the ideal opportunity for the industry to convene and exchange ideas and cost effective solutions for the future.
The high-profile event features a comprehensive exhibition showcasing the industry's products and services, coupled with a pace-setting conference organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), which attracted well over 1,600 delegates.
The conference has the theme 'People, Demand, Technology - Bridging the Gaps', which recognises the higher degrees of integration and cross-disciplinary activity between the workforce and technology in delivering energy to the market within the framework of fluctuating demand and changing prices.
Specific topics include investment and field exploration, working towards a greener and cleaner environment, ensuring high performance under difficult conditions and the outlook for the sector in light of the world economic situation.
"Challenges present us with the opportunity to think of solutions. MEOS is an opportunity to work with over 280 companies from over 28 countries to meet within one arena to discuss and deliberate how to ensure oil and gas operations continue to be reliable and sustainable in the face of this era of turbulence," said Fawzi Al Shehabi, director of sales of Arabian Exhibition Management.
Faisal Al Mahroos, conference chairman and deputy chief executive (E&P) (U/S) of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) commented: "With the continuing vibrancy of the industry, MEOS 2009 is considerably bigger and better than 2007. MEOS 2007 attracted over 6,300 trade visitors and conference delegates from around the world.
"The 14,000sq/m of exhibit space covers all areas of the upstream industry, including production, reservoir management, drilling, completions, measurement systems, geology, geophysics, automation, transportation, health and safety and information technology."
Utilising both halls of the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, the exhibition plays host to all six GCC national oil and gas companies including Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Bapco, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Petroleum Development Oman, Qatar Petroleum and Saudi Aramco as well as international giants such as Baker Hughes, ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Schlumberger and Weatherford amongst others.
A highly technical conference organised by the SPE kick-started ahead of the exhibition with an official opening ceremony featuring welcome addresses by Bahrain's Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs and chairman of the National Oil and Gas Authority Dr Abdulhussain Mirza and the 2009 SPE president Leo Roodhard.
"With a rich technical programme including 31 technical sessions, eight panel sessions and 72 posters throughout the conference, companies and delegates alike utilised this forum to learn about future global oil demand, forge trading relationships, share expertise and knowledge, and create new technologies for exploration and production," said Waleed Refaay, regional director Middle East, SPE.
As oil and gas will continue to be the main source for the world's energy needs for decades to come, MEOS 2009 plays a pivotal role in ensuring the industry's leaders, experts and engineers remain at the cutting edge of this business.
SPE president Roodhart said: "Since this event first took place in 1979, it has remained one of SPE's main Middle East-focused events, which has contributed to the growth of our industry and the development of our resources."
Some of the major programme highlights include a session on recruitment, focusing on how to retain staff and to attract women to the industry, and a session addressing advancements in drilling and workover completions. Visitors also learn about the latest developments in reservoir modeling, deepwater drilling and offshore and deepwater exploration and appraisal.
