Media Center
2019-10-15
H.R.H. Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister, nominated H.E. Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Oil, to inaugurate the 5th Middle East Process Engineering Conference and Exhibition (MEPEC 2019), and the first edition of the World Petroleum Council hosted by The Kingdom of Bahrain, under the patronage of H.R.H. the Prime Minister from 14-16 October 2019 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre organized by Middle East Energy Events in cooperation with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and in coordination with the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) and with the support of local, national and international companies.
This global event will be attended by a group of speakers, dignitaries, CEOs, decision makers, technicians, engineers, academics, local, regional and international universities with the aim of exchanging knowledge, experiences, best practices and modern technologies in order to maintain its competitiveness in the global markets and attracting qualified human resources with experiences able to innovate and develop the future of operations engineering.
H.E. the Minister of Oil expressed his deep thanks and gratitude to the H.R.H. the Prime Minister, for his continuous support that has been going on since its inception in 2011, which shows the keenness of H.R.H. to support the development process witnessed by the oil and gas sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the emphasis on the status of the series of conferences and exhibitions in engineering operations as one of the global meetings in the oil, gas and energy sector in the Middle East. Praising the cooperation between the organizers and NOGA for the continued selection of the Kingdom of Bahrain to hold a series of conferences and exhibitions in the Middle East for operations engineering. Stressing the continued support from the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain in hosting such specialized events in the oil and gas sector and provide all kinds of facilities that help the organizers to hold their events successfully and achieve their goals.
In his opening speech, H.E. the Minister of Oil congratulated H.R.H. Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister on the success of the Government Forum 2019 and the visions included in this initiative development that reflects H.R.H. constant support to achieve the best government services, in line with Bahrain's Economic Vision 2030, within the overall development process of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
H.E. the Minister of Oil said that the directions favored by H.R.H. the Crown Prince, and which stem from the high directive of H.M. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of the country, to give the highest priority to oil exploration operations to increase Bahrain's resources, and from these guidance, H.E. the Minister of Oil stressed that NOGA continues to draw up plans and strategies to employ modern and advanced technologies in the oil and gas sectors. Explaining that the oil and gas projects will contribute to the sustainability of resources and create quality opportunities for the benefit of the nation and the citizens.
H.E. the Minister of Oil said that NOGA has launched a number of vital projects such as the new replacement of the oil pipeline linking the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the third gas plant of Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas), which is one of the largest industrial projects in the company's history, where the actual operation of the plant began in November 2018 with Bahraini national expertise with a high degree of efficiency. Pointing out that the first load of 23 thousand metric tons of jet gas and 25 thousand metric tons of liquefied gas. In addition, that the factory was designed to accommodate 350ml, as it will be able to extract 382,000 metric tons per year of LPG liquids, namely propane, butane and naphtha.
As for the project to upgrade the Bahrain refinery, H.E. the Minister of Oil said that the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), in cooperation with the companies implementing the project, has worked within the time plan to begin the operational phase of the Bahrain refinery in 2022.
H.E. the Minister of Oil added that NOGA is always seeking to strengthen the relations with various international oil companies in order to exchange knowledge and experiences and see the latest technologies and studies and research in this vital field. Pointing out that there were a number of exploration and production agreements that have been signed with a number of international oil companies such as the Italian Oil and Gas Extraction Company, and Eni in the North Sea Province No. 1. As well as a memorandum of understanding with Total France Company, Baker Hughes and other international companies from the United States of America, Italy, France and various countries of the world.
H.E. the Minister of Oil, said that the theme of this year's conference came to meet the desire of participants from different countries of the world, which is expected to reach more than 3000 participants. That emphasizes the need for more engineering solutions for various challenges in the field of operations engineering as a result of the growth of population and the growing demand for energy, which requires increased work to strengthen cooperation between process engineering and technology.
H.E. the Minister of Oil noted that this year MEPEC included the launch of the first version in the Kingdom of Bahrain of the World Petroleum Council conference under the theme "Integration, Strategy and Leadership", which is one of the largest international conferences specialized in the field of petroleum, in which it will address a number of topics in refining strategy, petrochemical leadership, national vision changes, business models, customer requirements, environment, sustainability, security and other related topics.
At the end of his speech, H.E. Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Oil, expressed his great thanks and gratitude to the leadership for the support by the oil and gas sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which has yielded positive results in ensuring the sustainability of its economic growth. As H.E. the Minister of Oil thanked and appreciated Mr. Ahmed Al Sa'adi, Senior Vice President of Technical Services, Saudi Aramco, for his outstanding efforts in preparing and organizing this large event. As well as for the keynote speakers, heads of meetings, participating delegates and exhibitors, wishing them all good luck, success and good accommodation in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Also speaking at the ministerial session was H.E. Elnur Soltanov, Deputy Minister of Energy, Republic of Azerbaijan, and Dr. Sun Xiansheng Secretary General, International Energy Forum (IEF), who both discussed the most important oil developments in the world.
Afterwards, H.E. Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Oil and a number of dignitaries and officials in the oil companies, inaugurated the accompanying exhibition. As in the accompanying exhibition, H.E. was briefed about the products and services representing the latest technologies in the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry. H.E. highly appreciated the outstanding organization of the exhibition, as it attracted major international companies and regional and international oil companies to participate in it. As there were more than 150 exhibitors from different companies participated in the 8,000-square-meter exhibition, from various international oil companies such as, Saudi Aramco, SABIC, Shell, Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), Tatweer Petroleum, Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas), the Gulf Downstream Association (GDA), Yokogawa, Harry Burton, Baker Hughes, Chevron, from around 50 countries such as China, USA, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Brazil and other countries of the world who presented the latest technologies in this vital field.
