As a platform for discussing the industry’s most important issues, the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) strives to adapt to meet leadership concerns.
From a strong focus on exploration and production during the pre-2014 period of sustained high oil prices, 2015 and 2016 have emphasised innovation and improved efficiency to reduce immediate costs. The latest changes recognise an industry adapting to a ‘new normal’. This sees investment returning to exploration and production in anticipation of rising demand, growing interest in natural gas, and a long-term imperative to add value to the resource.
As part of its integrated 2030 Strategy, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which hosts ADIPEC, is creating more profitable downstream, and more valuable upstream, businesses. The strategy will increase production capacity to 3.5mn barrels of oil per day (bpd) by 2018, increase gasoline production to 10.2mn tonnes per annum by 2022, and grow petrochemicals production from 4.5mn tonnes in 2016 to 11.4mn tonnes by 2025. It will also diversify its range of high-value innovative plastics solutions. Similar goals are being set by national oil companies (NOCs) across the Middle East and beyond.
The emerging business approach seeks to maximise the value of each barrel that NOCs produce, by generating additional revenue from each layer of processing, distribution, and sales. As well as generating more revenue, investments along the value chain can reduce the impact of fluctuations in oil and gas prices, which affect each layer of the industry differently.
According to analysis by the Boston Consulting Group, low prices for crude oil will often reduce profits for exploration and production, but at the same time will increase profits downstream, as inputs become cheaper and buyer demand rises. When the oil price dropped sharply during 2014, margins at major European and Asian refining hubs went up, rising by around 72% in Rotterdam and 57% in Singapore. High prices for crude shift the balance in the opposite direction.
ADIPEC’s 2017 strategic programme is being restructured this year to reflect this change. An expanded programme recognises that the conference’s high-level participants – who include influential oil and gas CEOs – command businesses that cover the full scope of upstream, midstream, and downstream operations. The expanded and restructured conference programme at ADIPEC will help the oil and gas trade event to play a vital role in driving strategic investment decisions across the industry’s full value chain, its organiser has claimed.
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“ADIPEC’s guiding purpose is to be the convening power for the global industry, a platform where the industry’s leading CEOs define and refine their strategic direction,” said Ali Khalifa Al Shamsi, Al Yasat CEO and ADIPEC 2017 chairman. “Although exploration, production, and export of crude oil remain the foundation of the region’s NOCs, today’s business models increasingly look beyond this, making downstream investments that accumulate benefits through each value-added process. ADIPEC is committed to acting as a driving force in support of this evolution.”
ADIPEC 2017’s conference programme will include several ministerial sessions and four global business leader sessions, offering panel discussions and interviews with some of the senior government and industry decision-makers who are shaping the future of oil and gas. An additional four downstream global business leader sessions will focus on value-added processes.
Specialised sessions within the conference programme will offer knowledge exchange in areas such as security, the offshore and marine sector, and the role of women in the energy industry. For C-level delegates, there will be 10 C-suite dialogues, offering interactive panel discussions of critical business issues. As well as the strategic conference, ADIPEC offers oil and gas professionals 119 technical sessions that cater to all aspects of the industry.
The conference programme sits alongside a commercial exhibition and offers one-to-one business networking opportunities, which the orgainser says confirms ADIPEC as a deal-making hub where the industry’s decision-makers find connections and forge partnerships that will drive future growth.
“With our strategic conference programme for 2017, ADIPEC breaks down the division between upstream and midstream sectors, extracting and transporting the natural resource, and downstream value-adding and manufacturing of products for the end customer,” said Christopher Hudson, president – dmg events, global energy, which organises ADIPEC.
“All these elements are one industry, and many of the CEOs who will convene at ADIPEC have a growing portfolio of responsibilities for every layer of a global, vertically integrated business. To fulfil our mission as the convening power for the global oil and gas industry, we must enable dialogue and insight across the full scope of their responsibilities and concerns.”
Confirmed speakers for the ADIPEC conference include Mohammed Barkindo, secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); and HE Suhail Mohamed Mazrouei, Minister of Energy of the UAE, as well as ministers from Egypt, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Mexico. They will be joined by CEOs from major NOCs, international oil companies (IOCs), and leading oilfield services companies, as well as industry experts.
Conference sessions and panel discussions include broad-ranging knowledge exchange on achieving stable and sustainable long-term growth for the industry, including through collaboration and partnerships, innovation and efficiency of operations, enabling smart growth across the value chain, and driving investment into downstream refining and petrochemicals. Change and industry disruption will also be important topics, looking at how the petroleum industry can adapt to the changing roles of oil and natural gas in a low-carbon future.
