The MEDrillTech Conference and Exhibition 2015 kicks off in Abu Dhabi today, with some of the region’s biggest and best oil and gas companies set to attend.
The Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO) has collaborated with UAE oil and gas majors ADNOC, ADCO, ZADCO, and NDC to support the event.
The inaugural edition of the event seeks to deliberate on means to boost the competitiveness of the GCC oil and gas industry.
The MEDrillTech Conference and Exhibition – to be held at the Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi from October 5 – 7 – will host local, regional and global experts and senior professionals, who will discuss need-of-the-hour innovations to insulate the oil and gas industry from declining crude oil prices.
The price of crude oil has seen continuous slashing through 2015 and the outlook for the rest of the year appears to be similar. For the oil-rich GCC countries and other oil producing countries the reduction in prices has led to policy changes at the government level, and operational changes at the business level.
Organizations, naturally, need to explore their verticals in search of economies of scale that can be applied across the oil and gas industry; one of these being drilling technology.
“At the conference we hope to share our knowledge, technology, and techniques in the drilling functions so that these can be applied across the Oil & Gas industries effectively and efficiently to provide the organizations with a competitive advantage,” Rafeeq Kunhi, Director Oil & Gas of organiser E&P, says.
According to a report by the IMF, the GCC countries currently spend around 3.4% of their GDP on fuel subsidies. As incomes from oil begin to narrow, these subsidy policies are being increasingly reviewed by the respective governments.
The UAE has led the way in deregulating fuel prices, in a move to align it with global market rates. Apart from helping the government with its budgets, the deregulation policy has boosted other sectors such as public transport and alternative energy. However, the organisations involved in the oil and gas industry continue to struggle.
Besides providing networking opportunities, the core purpose of the three-day event is “sharing of knowledge”, according to the organisers. To this extent, various panels ranging from topics such as integrated services, extended reach, multilateral wells drilling and completion, and smart technology in drilling, have been arranged for.
“The conference is meant to provide a platform for experts in the industry to share and develop their knowledge vis-à-vis the current market challenges rather than the commercial aspects of the industry,” Kunhi comments.
