OMAN TO HOST KEY HEAVY OIL EXPERTS ADDRESSING INDUSTRY DELEGATES ON LATEST TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS

Held under the auspices of the Ministry of Oil and Gas of the Sultanate of Oman, the 10th annual World Heavy Oil Congress & Exhibition (WHOC) will host over 80 international senior heavy oil experts. Industry leaders from Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), TDA Research, Unipetrol, Indian Oil, Occidental of Oman (Oxy), Ejaad and Baker Hughes, a GE Company are confirmed to address conference delegates at the Strategic and Technical Conference sessions across 3 days of the congress. 

The congress and exhibition will be held from 2 – 4 September 2019 at the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre and will feature participation from international exhibiting companies including NOCs, IOCs and technology providers. Leading experts and professionals from the entire heavy oil value chain will convene at WHOC 2019 - an annual platform for the entire industry to collectively exchange knowledge on the latest technologies and solutions for sustainable production and upgrading of heavy oil and crude resources.
Occidental of Oman (Oxy) return to the event as Gold sponsors and are joined in the same category by JP Global Digital and Maha Energy as Silver Sponsor.

Specialists joining the Congress include Dr SM Farouq Ali, Professor of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Houston, and a widely respected veteran within the heavy oil and oil sands sector, who will address conference attendees on crucial topics including heavy oil development in the era of increasing shale production. 

Sami Al Baqi, Technical Director at Petroleum Development Oman, Said Al Balushi, Senior Vice President – Technical at Occidental of Oman and Ayman Khattab, President & CEO – Gulf & North Africa, Baker Hughes, a GE Company will jointly address the topic of “Producing more with less: Leveraging new technologies & realigning strategies to improve recovery in current economic climate”. 

Speaking on the topic of “Upgrading and marketing heavy oil through advanced innovation in refinery operations, infrastructure and technologies”, Jiri Hajek, Director of Development and Innovation, Vice Chairman of the Board, Unipetrol and Girish Srinivas, Vice President, TDA Research and educating the audience on the establishment of efficient R&D partnerships, AlMuatasim Al Bahlani, Business Development Manager at Ejaad addresses bridging the gap between academia, industry, and government to address the evolving needs of the energy sector.  

The congress will also provide an important platform for earlier confirmed speakers, Junaid Ghulam, Field Development Manager at Petroleum Development Oman, and Dr Saleh bin Ali Al Anboori, Director General of Planning & Studies at Oman’s Ministry of Oil & Gas to share their insights on radical industry shifts and how the industry can cooperatively unlock new value from existing crude resources. 

In addition to the top line Strategic Conference, the Congress will host a technical conference presenting 18 categories of discussions across three days. Technical conference speakers have been invited to share their first hand experiences and findings on pilot projects, existing field operations, new research, and existing and potential technologies for the heavy oil sector. Technical sessions will focus on Advances in Chemical Flooding, Technologies for production maximization, Role of R&D in advancement of heavy oil utilisation, Driving efficiency in brownfields, Data Analytics and Integration, and Emerging methods in EOR and heavy oil production amongst others. 

Showcasing representation from over 41 countries, the technical conference will feature shortlisted technical speakers from Petroleum Development Oman, Sasol Performance Chemicals, Bechtel, Engineers India Limited, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Saudi Aramco, Ace Energy Group, Basra Oil Company, PDVSA, PEMEX, Petronas, Salamander Solutions Inc. and Occidental of Oman.

While the Technical and Strategic Conferences are accessible to conference delegates only, a new feature introduced this year will allow visitors to take advantage of new content presented at the event. The E-poster Presentations will take place on the Exhibition Floor across three days and feature over 20 presentations covering the entire heavy oil value chain.

Over 10 Omani Local Community Contractors have confirmed their participation at the PDO LCCs and SLCCs Pavilion, including Al Baraka Oilfield Service, Al Shawamikh Oil Services, Dohat Al Khaleej LLC, Berba, Mideast Integrated Drilling & Well Services, Peace Land Energy, and MSTC Oman.

WHOC 2019 will open doors to over 3,000 attendees, 500 conference delegates and 80 participating companies from more than 50 countries. Considered the world’s leading heavy oil congress and exhibition, the conferences focus on upstream, midstream, and downstream heavy oil operations. The Congress and Exhibition will be hosted in Oman for the second year in a row is hosted by Petroleum Development Oman. 

“With Oman’s vast unexploited heavy oil resources, investor friendly environment and transparent business practices, Oman is definitely a place where we want to be.  We are very pleased to be part of the 2019 World Heavy Oil Congress and Exhibition and look forward to sharing our industry knowledge and gaining some valuable insights from the world’s most influential leaders,” said Jonas Lindvall, CEO and Managing Director of Maha Energy.

The Congress will include a two-day strategic conference and three-day technical conference alongside a three-day international exhibition. The event will include panels, interactive sessions, and networking opportunities with top oil and gas industry leaders, technology providers and professionals from around the globe.