3 June 2013, Abu Dhabi - Euro Petroleum Consultants has officially announced an important high-level event dedicated to Unconventional Gas for the Middle East and North Africa region. MENA Shale 2013 will take place in Abu Dhabi later this year and is dedicated to the very hot topic of unconventional gas that has revolutionised energy supply in USA and created major debates in Europe, China and many other regions of the world.
“Here at EPC we believe that hydrocarbons from unconventional sources will play an increasingly important part in the energy mix of future and will bring about significant changes in the oil, gas and petrochemicals industries. That is why it is critical that the leading industry players learn from the North American experience and stay up-to-date with the latest developments so that they can make informed decisions about development of the substantial opportunities that exist in the MENA region” said Andy Gibbins, Vice President MENA at Euro Petroleum Consultants.
The developments in unconventional oil & gas have totally changed the supply situation in North America and other regions are developing plans. The MENA region has substantial reserves and the potential is huge, particularly given that a lot of infrastructure already exists for conventional oil and gas.
“Reconnaissance and seismic data for the region are readily available due to decades of exploration in the area, saving companies millions, if not billions of dollars that would have been needed to do the same work. There are also a good number of pipelines here that, where geography and geology meet, can convey a premium to any unconventional oil production. As several countries begin to look for the oil shale opportunities, the unconventional story has the potential to be the biggest boom in the energy market in decades” says Chris Faulkner, Chief Executive of Breitling Oil & Gas who will also be speaking at the event.
In recent years the demand for natural gas in the MENA region has increased significantly and grown much faster than the supply, which caused shortages in a number of countries, some of which have resorted to imports and others have curbed gas exports in order to meet their energy needs.
Even Saudi Arabia, which has used gas to develop its thriving petrochemicals industry is now having to balance the needs of this industry and the power generation sector. Many countries are actively looking at development of unconventional gas resources as a means to boost the domestic supply, however this creates a lot of commercial, logistical, environmental and even political challenges.
“Libya’s increased demand for gas to generate electricity and to operate its manufacturing plants calls upon the government to direct its future focus on the exploitation of the country’s conventional and unconventional gas resources. Libya’s proven conventional gas reserves are estimated at 43 TCF of which about 23% has been produced, but more than 300Tcf of undeveloped shale gas resources are expected from the country world-class shale source rocks buried at depths ranging from 6000 to 15000 feet. The initial geochemical analysis revealed that two types of shale gas; Thermogenic and Biogenic gases have been developed in the subsurface of the country sedimentary basins” said Mr Bashir B. Garea, Exploration Manager – NOC Libya, who will be giving a high-level presentation at MENA Shale.
The objective of MENA Shale 2013 is to outline the challenges and share best practices in relation to the development of unconventional oil and gas. There will be the opportunity to learn from the North American experience, to hear about the latest technological developments and to understand some of the issues associated with development of this industry. There will be an open floor for discussions, exchanging knowledge and experience in order to successfully face those challenges and create strategies to address the most important breakthrough in decades in terms of energy supply.
The event will take place at the St Regis Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi on 10 & 11 December 2013. The conference will be held in parallel with another large-scale industry forum – OpEx 2013, which is organised by the same company and will tackle issues related to Operational Excellence in oil, gas and petrochemicals.
For more information visit www.mena-shale.biz or contact the organiser directly at shale@europetro-me.com
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About the organiser:
Euro Petroleum Consultants is an independent consulting company in the Petroleum Industry with worldwide experience – in addition EPC ltd. is well established as a leading producer of international oil & gas technology conferences and training seminars. Founded in 1996, EPC ltd has been helping clients in the Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals industry to achieve their project goals by providing Project Management Consulting (PMC) Services during all project phases. The company is active worldwide covering the Industry’s most important regions with offices in London, Moscow, Sofia, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai.
For further information please contact the EPC Marketing Team at: marketing@europetro.com