IPTC 2009

Saad Al-Kaabi, director of oil and gas ventures at Qatar Petroleum.
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Higher investment in unconventional recovery projects and emerging natural gas opportunities dominated the Doha conference as 2009 drew to a close

The International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) 2009 was held at the Sheraton Doha Resort and Convention Hotel in Doha, Qatar, last month and brought together industry professionals from around the globe to discuss the technological advancement of the hydrocarbons sector.

The conference was opened by Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar and Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, the Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry and the opening address was given by Mohammed Bin Dhaen Al Hamli, Minister of Energy for the UAE.

Al Hamli spoke passionately about advances in oilfield technology which have resulted in oil production from fields rising from 35% to 50-60%. Al Hamli also called on the industry to ensure that young people were brought into the industry to overcome the many problems presented by an ageing oil and gas workforce.

Speakers at the event included Rich Kruger of ExxonMobil, Saad Al-Kaabi from Qatar Petroleum, Ali Al-Jarwan, Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company and Andrew Gould from Schlumberger.

The conference programme focused on dissemination of new and current technology, best practices and the importance of the “value chain” and maximising asset value.

The packed exhibitor hall played host to a number of high-profile oil and gas giants with Qatar Petroleum, Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, Kuwait Oil Company, Shell backed up by oilfield services providers including Schlumberger and Weatherford.

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Day 1

The opening day brought major announcements from Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and Schlumberger, aside from the opening address from Al Hamli.

The biggest news was reserved for Germany’s upstream division of BASF, Wintershall. The company kicked off a lively event with the news it is planning to expand its operations in the Middle East and is the operator of three offshore gas field licences in Qatar.

Speaking to Oil & Gas Middle East at IPTC, a director of Wintershall, Martin Bachmann, said that the blocks are located close to, but are not part of, the massive North Field.

“We are the largest exploration acreage holder in Qatar at this point in time. We won the blocks against very stiff competition and that is because it is one of the best prospects in Qatari waters,” Bachmann said.

The first exploration well in the Khuff formation of Block 4N will be drilled offshore in 2010 with a second soon following. Block 4N covers 544 square kilometers in water depths of around 70 metres.

Bachamann said that Wintershall plans to invest around US$100 million on developing Block 4N alone.

The principal conference discussion points revolved around new global carbon management initiatives, footprint minimisation in drilling and completion and the latest technological developments in cleaner fuels.

Day 2

The second day of IPTC took a closer look at the natural gas industry and what opportunities were currently available to Gulf countries developing their liquefied natural gas (LNG) industries.

Speaking ahead of the Copenhagen climate conference, there was a general consensus that natural gas would emerge as a real winning industry in 2010, as the desire to drop oil and coal in favour of cleaner burning gas was almost guaranteed to occur.

The technical session panel of the day discussed the environmental advantages of LNG, a fuel source from hydrocarbons that produces far fewer emissions than oil or coal. Senior professionals from BG Group, RasGas, Shell Qatar, Middle East Total and ExxonMobil participated in the discussion.

The interest in LNG was evident in the IPTC exhibition hall with both the Pearl GTL and Qatargas 4 being popular stands with the visiting delegates, who came from all over.

Day 3

The key theme which emerged on the final day of IPTC 2009 was a call for higher investment in unconventional recovery methods, with speakers imploring NOCs to support high-risk investments that will
allow more oil to be produced from already existing, and ageing oilfields.

High ranking industry professionals from Eni E&P, QP, Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Oil Company, Total and Shell E&P International spoke in the conference. The panellists discussed the challenges around increasing hydrocarbon recovery in existing fields and developing future energy resources which are energy intensive and more expensive.