More than 160 leading oil industry professionals will take part in a major forum in Bahrain. The fifth Middle East Artificial Lift Forum (MEALF) opens at the Gulf International Convention and Exhibition Centre today.

The conference and exhibition will be opened by Oil and Gas Affairs Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mizra.

The event kicked off yesterday with a series of highly specialised pre-conference workshops covering a wide range of issues for the oil and gas sector across the region.

The biennial conference, organised by Omanexpo, will feature training workshops and technical presentations on beam pumping (BP), electrical submersible pumps (ESPs), gas lifting, and progressing cavity pumps.

The event is supported by Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Schlumberger, and Zenith Oilfield Technology as platinum sponsors.

A subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, KOC is responsible for exploration operations and the development of fields in Kuwait.

Schlumberger is the world's leading oilfield services company supplying technology, information solutions and integrated project management that optimise reservoir performance.

Zenith Oilfield Technology is an artificial lift service company that provides leading-edge technology and services related to gathering and analysis of downhole data and specialised completions.

MEALF 2009 has also received the support of Alkhorayef Petroleum and Weatherford Oil Tool Middle East as gold sponsors.

Many other leading companies in the industry are also backing MEALF 2009 as the event's silver sponsors. These are Baker Hughes, Lufkin, Novomet, Sertecpet, and Wood Group ESP.

Baker Hughes is the market leader in the ESP systems industry for both oilfield and water well applications.

Lufkin's oilfield pumping units are known throughout the world as the industry standard, while Novomet manufactures complete ESP stands for oil production, water injection pumps and test-benches for testing the equipment.

Sertecpet, which is based in Ecuador, is dedicated to building equipment for the oil industry including artificial lifting systems by pumping hydraulic pressure.

Another silver sponsor, Wood Group ESP, is a global leader in the manufacture, testing, repair and service of submersible pumping equipment.

All sponsors of the event will have a strong presence at the event by bringing in a large number of delegates to the conference and setting up stalls at the exhibition.

In addition, MEALF 2009 is also supported by Upstream magazine, Gulf Oil & Gas, and Drilling & Exploration World, all of which are the event's media partners.-TradeArabia News Service