Major developments in oil and gas sector will form the agenda for the upcoming UAE Oil and Gas Greenfield Projects Conference in Abu Dhabi.

The event will run from September 10 to 12 at the Sofitel Hotel and is expected to gather high level participation from government and semi-government entities, financiers and investors, contractors, project managers and international operators and developers.

“One of the key factors that has a significant impact on successful project execution and commissioning is the integration of oil and gas project infrastructure with technology,” said Edmund O’ Sullivan, chairman, of Meed Events, organisers of the conference.

“This conference aims to bring the entire value chain involved in the oil and gas projects sector together to discuss challenges and solutions for new projects in the UAE and the way forward. We hope encourage co-operation within the sector to boost the quality of projects execution.”

One of the highlights of the conference is a dedicated session reviewing the UAE oil and gas sector’s involvement with outward investment, including critical updates on strategies as to how it intends to further diversity its regional projects.

According to Middle East projects tracker Meed Projects, if contracts are awarded as expected, this quarter could be the biggest-spending period since the final quarter of 2011, with several major projects moving towards the construction phase. Since then, contract awards for each subsequent quarter have hovered between $5 billion and $10 billion, with spending dominated by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq and Iran.

In the UAE, two major projects on the Umm al-Lulu offshore oil field development could add a further $2 billion to the total value of investments in the oil and gas sector in the emirates.

The first package has already been awarded to Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC), while the second package is still to be decided after an NPCC-Technip consortium and South Korea-based Samsung Engineering were asked to resubmit bids in April.

The only other billion-dollar-plus contract in the Mena region so far in the second quarter was Qatar Petroleum (QP) awarding a deal to Taiwan’s CTCI and Japan-based Chiyoda Corporation, This was for the $1.2 billion expansion of its Ras Laffan refinery.

Preceding this event is a conference that focuses on rehabilitating ageing oil and gas fields throughout the region.

The fourth Annual Middle East Brownfield Projects Conference will be held on September 9, in Sofitel Hotel in Abu Dhabi where experts will share insights and strategies to rehabilitate aged fields, using modern technologies.

“There is an enormous potential for contractors looking to work on rehabilitation, upgrade and modification schemes in the GCC. This clearly defines the Middle East’s Brownfield market as one of the region’s high potential markets. The Middle East Brownfield Projects Conference will focus on specific challenges and opportunities over the next 12 months,” explained O’ Sullivan. – TradeArabia News Service