The impact of the unrest in Libya on the wider regional downstream oil industry will be the main talking point at a key conference.

The Middle East Downstream Week event will be held in Abu Dhabi from May 8 to 11.

Leading industry players from across the region, including Bapco refinery operations manager Mohamed Mezal, will be speaking at the event.

Event project co-ordinator Dominica Andrews said that instability in North Africa could have an impact on doing business in the region in the short-term, the long-term perspective could open up new doors for investors.

'As Libya holds Africa's largest oil reserves, its contribution to the region and world is massive. However, international oil companies still see it as an attractive investment opportunity despite recent troubles,' she said.

'The oil industry in Libya is centralised and should there be a regime change, there could be opportunities for more decision-makers to emerge, providing new routes to conduct business.

'However, it is not something that can happen overnight.

'The theme for our conference is 'bridging the gap between strategy and technology' in order to address the uncertainty in the industry,' she said.

'There is no doubt that the Middle East refining sector is facing numerous challenges including uncertainty, increasingly stringent quality and environmental standards in addition to competition from non-refinery supply additions,' she said.-TradeArabia News Service