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MANAMA: Exhibitors at the 16th Middle East Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference (MEOS 2009) were voting it a massive success yesterday as they said they were already signing up for the next event.

The Oman Cement Company, which was attending the show for the first time, has already decided it is coming back.

'We are here to promote our specialist cement, which is used in well casings during drilling and the show has been extremely useful for us,' said marketing officer Saif Salim Al Habsy.

'We already have a lot of business across the region but we are keen to expand this business.

'At present, because of demand at home, the government has banned the export of cement for construction but it is supporting us in building overseas markets for these specialist cements for the oil industry.'

The US-headquartered Du Pont Group is focusing on the Mena region at present because it sees the region as growth area.

Oil and gas industry leader Anil Menon said that they had 500 people working across the region and were continuing to expand.

'We have participated in previous shows here and they are always successful, particularly for generating business in Saudi Arabia. The traffic at the exhibition has been pretty buoyant for the first two days and we have generated a lot of interest. We will certainly be coming back for the next edition.'

The China National Petroleum Company's BGP Middle East geophysical and seismic survey company has one of the largest stands at the show.

Deputy regional general manager Tim Dowson said that business had been brisk since the opening.

It was a similar story for Bahrain-based PPME, according to oilfied services manager Bill Murray.

'We have been run off our feet since day one and it is not only the number of inquiries but the quality of them that has impressed me,' he said.