Calendar of Events

Under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, Bahrain is hosting the third round of the Middle East Oil and Gas ICT Summit (OT Summit) during the period 3-4 November 2009. The Bahraini Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs and the Chairman of the National Authority for Oil and Gas and organized by the Dubai based 'The World Development Forum';

This year the summit is focusing on "Technology as a strategic pathway during the transition from Recession to Recovery", with the participation of delegates representing 1 Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Yemen and the host country, Bahrain.

Commenting on the event, Dr. Mirza said that "Propelling the oil and gas sector towards more sustainability is among the top priorities of the leaderships in the region, where we have noted the success achieved by GCC countries in setting comprehensive strategies for developing and upgrading the oil and gas which supported these countries in facing the recent international financial crisis."

The minister explained that the repercussion of the recent crisis have proved the winning bet on modern technology, adding that "Technology was and will remain to be the most important pillar for developing the oil and gas sector in general, as key enabler to improve efficiency and productivity, and accordingly increasing the profitability." He also noted that the coming few years are to witness major developments towards intensifying the reliance on modern technology in managing the oil sector in the GCC countries.

"Bahrain was able to position itself as a leader in terms of human resources development and was early to pay attention to the importance of utilizing the latest technology in managing the oil and gas, "the minister explained.

Dr. Mirza highlighted the importance of the role played by information technology for assisting the oil and gas sector in facing the challenges of the international demand on energy, emphasizing that technology provided an innovative solutions for mission critical from exploration operations to design and implementation processes, in addition to its major contributions to the fields of analysis, business intelligence and telecommunications.

Recent study of the International Energy Agency have proved that the international demand for oil will grow by 4 million barrels daily during the coming four years to increase from 83.9 million barrels per day in 2009 to 88 million barrels per day in 2013, an increase that represents an average annual growth rate of 1 million barrels per day, which is a healthy growth rate comparing to the average of the past two decades, according to Khaled Eid, the Managing Director of "The World Development Forum," the summit's organizer.

He added that Such predictions have contributed to the growing appetite of oil and gas companies to benefit from the latest technologies to increase both efficiency and profitability.

This year's summit is also hosting representatives from the major Arab and international companies working in the field of oil and gas, whereas the participation has been confirmed for speakers from Arab oil companies such as Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Oil Company, Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), in addition to speakers from the leading technology companies including HP, Aupec.

It is also noteworthy that the summit is the first of its kind in the region, gathering the Information Technology decision makers in the Oil & Gas sector in Middle East to meet with the leading Technology companies to bring the latest technology for an in-depth analysis and facilitate the knowledge transfer.