The Oil & Gas Year, in partnership with the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy (MMIE) and Centurion Law Firm, conducted its third strategic roundtable for Equatorial Guinea in Malabo on May 8, 2015. The event was held in the Zafiro Room at the MMIE’s headquarters.

The roundtable brought together H.E. Mercedes Eworo Milam, general director of hydrocarbons of the MMIE; Martín Crisanto Ebe Mba, senator and chairman of the board of the National Bank of Equatorial Guinea; Olivier Sabrié, general director of Total Equatorial Guinea; Serapio Sima Ntutumu, deputy general director of Sonagas; Subramanya Ananthnarayan, manager of Schlumberger for Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea; Rosendo Machimbo Pérez, country director at Weatherford Equatorial Guinea; José Rebollar, director general of Société Générale de Banques de Guinée Équatorial; Nicolas Franceschi, manager of PwC; David Shaw, resident technical advisor at the MMIE and Fernando Biahute, deputy general manager of Luba Freeport. The participants engaged in an open and constructive dialogue on economic reactivation strategies, the future of the Equatorial Guinea’s offshore sector, the paramount role of national content, strengthening of national companies and the country’s great potential to become a regional centre for energy and logistics.

The discussion was divided into two sessions: “Impacts of Low Oil Prices and the Revival of the Offshore Industry” and “Oil and Gas Diversification Strategy: Gas Monetisation, Petrochemicals and Regional Hub Positioning.”

When discussing the offshore future of the country, David Shaw said, “The MMIE is actively promoting new fields through data availability, acquiring new information and having a reputation for being professional and honouring contracts.” The panel of speakers also addressed Equatorial Guinea’s potential to become a regional energy and logistic centre. “In order to be a regional centre, it is not enough to have the right geographic position, we also need to have the lowest costs to compete with the other countries in the region,” said Sabrié. A key sector for enhancing the regional role of Equatorial Guinea is petrochemicals. “Petrochemical developments are one of the engines of development for the country, as they are viable projects economically and socially and will provide a lot of employment,” said Sima Ntutumu.

The strategic roundtable will be published in The Oil & Gas Year Equatorial Guinea 2015, which is due to be launched in the second half of 2015.

For news and features from Equatorial Guinea, click here

The Oil & Gas Year, in partnership with Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas and the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL), conducted its third strategic roundtable for Oman in Muscat on May 4, 2015. The event was sponsored by Occidental of Oman and Halliburton.

Led by His Excellency Salim Al Aufi, the undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, participants in the Strategic Roundtable discussed issues such as competition, the need for transparency in tendering processes and the importance of increasing Omani participation in the oil and gas industry. BP Oman president Yousuf Al Ojaili, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) managing director Raoul Restucci, vice-president and general manager of Occidental of Oman Robert Swain, Halliburton Oman managing director Zeinoun Klink and Al Shawamikh Oil Services CEO Dr Hamoud Al Tobi were among the participants. An audience of representatives from local services companies was also provided the opportunity to ask questions to the panel regarding the theme of the event: the development of local services companies.

In response to Oman sliding 13 places down the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index to position 46, H.E. Salim Al Aufi said, “The higher education and training on offer in Oman must align further with the demands of the oil and gas industry.” Galfar Engineering & Contracting CEO Hans Erlings spoke about the difficulties of Omanising labour-intensive positions within the engineering and construction sectors.

Hamoud Al Tobi, CEO of Alshawamikh Oil Services, a government established and PDO-supported super-local community contractor, said, “It is important for local communities to reap the benefits of oil and gas revenue while creating competitive Omani firms.”

The strategic roundtable will be published in The Oil & Gas Year Oman 2015, which is due to be launched in August 2015.

For news, features and interviews from Oman click here.

Following a keynote address by PwC Malaysia executive chairman Dato’ Mohammad Faiz Azmi, Dialog Group executive chairman Tan Sri Dr Ngau Boon Keat was presented with the man of the year award. He was recognised for his leadership in bringing the Pengerang Independent Deepwater Petroleum Terminal on stream on schedule.

Presenting the man of the year award, The Oil & Gas Year chief operating officer Aslı Konyalı said: “This terminal will help Malaysia become a hub for oil and gas storage, trade and refining in the Asia-Pacific region.” In his acceptance speech, Tan Sri Dr Ngau Boon Keat noted the importance of public and private sector co-operation in bringing the first phase of the terminal on stream in 2014.

ExxonMobil was awarded upstream project of the year for the Tapis enhanced oil recovery project. Presenting the award to ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Malaysia president See Kok Yew, The Oil & Gas Year regional director Eric Gay said Tapis is “one of the world’s most important offshore enhanced oil recovery projects.”

SapuraKencana Petroleum was recognised as new exploration and production entrant of the year following the company’s acquisition of independent oil company Newfield’s entire Malaysian portfolio. The award was accepted by SapuraKencana Energy and Joint Ventures senior vice-president Datuk Kris Azman Abdullah. The executive officer and managing director of JGC Malaysia, Takahiro Kobori, was presented with the award for engineering and construction project of the year for the PETRONAS LNG Train 9 project. Nan Yusri bin Nan Rahimy, managing director of Malaysian services company Deleum, accepted the award for local oilfield services company of the year.

In her keynote speech, Konyalı said: “We are delighted by the feedback we receive globally on our Malaysia edition. … You will find the stories of the companies and entrepreneurs at the heart of Malaysian oil and gas in The Oil & Gas Year Malaysia 2015.”

For news, features and interviews from Malaysia click here

The roundtable panel was attended by esteemed speakers from the country’s oil and gas industry, including National Commission of Hydrocarbons president Juan Carlos Zepeda, deputy secretary of energy for hydrocarbons Lourdes Melgar, director general of Pemex E&P Gustavo Hernández, Schlumberger president for Mexico and Central America Arindam Bhattacharya, PwC Strategy& vice president Juan Trebino, CBM Exploration and Production Engineering CEO Luis Vielma, BG Group director of public and corporate affairs Adrian Rodriguez-Montfort, and executive director of GE Oil & Gas Mexico Gabriel Cerdio.

The discussion was titled “Mexico’s Oil and Gas Development Prospects,” and analysed a range of topics with respect to Pemex’s evolving status from a monopoly to a competitive entity, the impact of falling oil prices on Mexico’s historic oil bidding round, current state of Mexico’s hydrocarbons infrastructure and its energy strategy through 2025, increased collaboration between IOCs and regulatory bodies and the implementation of new technologies and best practices in action. The Oil & Gas Year’s regional director for Americas, Peter Szabadi, and country director for Mexico moderated the event.

The roundtable session will be featured in The Oil & Gas Year’s fourth energy report on the country, The Oil & Gas Year, Mexico 2015. The book will highlight Mexico’s most important and influential companies, projects, individuals and policies throughout the energy chain.

For news and features from Mexico, click here.

The roundtable gathered the leaders from the industry’s top oil and gas companies and government agencies, including NCDMB executive secretary Ernest Nwapa, Amni International chairman Chief Tunde Afolabi, Energia managing director Felix Amieyeafori, Schlumberger group managing director West Africa Eke U. Eke, Weatherford International managing director Femi D. Thomas, and Saipem managing director Giuseppe Surace, Tenoil CEO Tony Chukwueke and Makon Group CEO Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde. The Oil & Gas Year’s country director for Nigeria chaired the event.

The panelists discussed the challenges, opportunities and solutions related to attracting investment into the country’s oil and gas industry, with a number of key findings and topics emerging throughout the discussion. While challenges including falling global oil prices, rising costs of doing business in Nigeria, and the continued uncertainty surrounding the passage of the country’s Petroleum Industry Bill were brought to the fore, the consensus surrounding the industry’s growth remained optimistic, most notably through a focus on the gains in local content capacity development and the presence of strong investment fundamentals in the market. The international oilfield services companies, represented by Femi Thomas of Weatherford and Eke U. Eke of Schlumberger, brought up concerns related to excessive permit requirements and impractical laws related to the re-export of equipment to neighbouring markets. On the operators’ side, Tony Chukwueke of Tenoil stressed the opportunity for indigenous companies to weather oil price shocks by adopting an integrated approach to the value chain, while his counterpart from Amni International, Chief Tunde Afolabi, countered with a strategy of focusing on core business and creating appropriate partnerships.

Ernest Nwapa, Executive Secretary of NCDMB, spoke to the media after the event. “The Oil & Gas Year’s Strategic Roundtable has once again served as a key catalyst for continued local content development, with this year’s edition serving as a vehicle through which capacity development initiatives and success stories can be showcased to the international investment community. While global market forces including the oil price are affecting everyone, Nigeria is becoming a more attractive destination for investment as it builds a stronger foundation and more fertile investment climate through the development of local capacity within the oil and gas sector and its supporting industries.”

The roundtable will be printed in The Oil & Gas Year Nigeria 2015 and will feature the comments and views shared by the participants throughout the event.

Click here for more Nigeria news and features 

Peruvian charity Asociacion Proyecto Peruanos handled the donation and The Oil & Gas Year Peru 2013’s country director went to Peru so that she could meet the family and help with building work.

Participating were Perupetro president Luis Ortigas, Hydrocarbons director Juan Ortíz from the Ministry of Energy & Mines, Odebrecht Latinvest head Jorge Barata, CEO Barbara Bruce of Hunt Oil, Former Prime Minister Beatriz Merino for the Peruvian Hydrocarbons Society, Andre Velarde Chainskaia of Schlumberger, general manager Luis Alfonso Carrera of Credicorp, and senior regional specialist Enrique Rodrigues Flores of IADB’s energy division.

The event tackled a range of issues including foreign investment in Peru’s hydrocarbons sector, the new national energy plan for 2014-2025, the effects of falling oil prices on the sector; relations between operators, government and local communities; and the implementation of new technologies and best practices in action. The event was moderated by Beatriz de la Vega, oil and gas leader at EY Peru.

A full report on the roundtable will be printed in the The Oil & Gas Year’s third edition on the country, The Oil & Gas Year Peru 2015. The book will highlight Peru’s most important and influential companies, projects, individuals and policies throughout the energy chain.

Click here for interviews and news about Peru’s oil industry

The event will be held at the Kuwait International Fairground, starting with the opening ceremony at 9am on March 3, 2015. The exhibition runs for three days until March 5. The conference will be held on on March 4 and 5.

GOGCE serves as an excellent opportunity for KOC to exchange information with the community at large and provide them with details pertaining to the company’s activities and operations.

By raising awareness and strengthening the partnership between KOC and its contractors and suppliers, GOGCE plays an important role for KOC in its drive for broader business relationships and knowledge-based expansion. The conference also creates value for all participants by providing KOC staff and others with information related to the latest techniques, material, equipment and services on offer in the oil industry.

The event itself showcases KOC’s main groups, KOC’s contractors and suppliers and a number of local universities and private institutes. GOGCE’s activities are distributed over a three-day period in March, with many speeches and activities being held over the course of the event.

Elshad Nasirov, SOCAR’s vice president for investments and marketing delivered the keynote address at the launch event, which was followed by the year’s awards ceremony. Commenting on the progress made in Azerbaijan’s energy industry over the past year, he addressed the major projects further connecting Azerbaijan to the global energy community. Expressing his support for The Oil & Gas Year Azerbaijan 2015, he added, “The Oil & Gas Year team have acted with the highest standards and produced the best resource for our oil and gas industry…this book is not for [those in attendance] but for the international community to be aware of what we are trying to achieve.”

At the ceremony, Ikhtiyar Akhundov, general director of BOS Shelf was honoured with the Man of the Year. Leading the largest fabrication yard in Azerbaijan, general manager of the BOS Shelf Yard – formerly the Baku Deep Water Jacket Factory – Ikhtiyar Akhundov has effectively managed to keep the yard involved in all the major projects in Azerbaijan, such as the Chirag Oil Project and Shah Deniz Phase One.

In order to fulfil its responsibilities for the Shah Deniz Phase Two project – where BOS Shelf has the responsibility of all the fabrication of offshore structures and marine support base services – and future offshore subsea developments, BOS Shelf will undergo a major strategic upgrade that will make the yard one of the most developed in the Caspian region. A training facility will be developed for the training of welders, fitters and riggers, developing 250 new welding procedures for the first time in Azerbaijan.

Furthermore, in order to cater for Shah Deniz and future subsea projects, BOS Shelf will build a special subsea facility, coating facility, new warehouse and new quays. Perhaps the most exciting visionary project of the yard is its push for becoming a logistic centre for servicing offshore projects, through the development of a $300 million-400 million, 1.7-kilometre quay with the necessary facilities for servicing vessels including those for bunkering, fuelling, water storage and mud storage.

Saipem-BOS Shelf-Star Gulf consortium was presented with the Contract of the Year award. In April 2014, the Saipem-BOS Shelf-Star Gulf signed a master agreement with BP for the fabrication, transportation and installation of the offshore facilities for the Shah Deniz phase two gas development project. Inside this master agreement, the consortium also signed two call-off agreements, a $750 million-contract for the construction of more than 45,000 tonnes of jackets, piles and subsea structures and a $1.8-billion contract for offshore transportation and installation of the jackets, piles, topsides and subsea infrastructure, laying export and in-field pipelines and diving services.

BP was presented with the Upstream Project of the Year award for the Shah Deniz Phase Two Development. On December 17, 2013 the Shah Deniz Consortium led by BP announced the final investment decision for the stage two development of the Shah Deniz gas-condensate field. Shah Deniz will be the first fully subsea development in the Caspian Sea, demanding the drilling and completion of 26 subsea wells and the construction of two bridge-linked platforms. The upstream development together with the expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline to transport the 16 bcm (565 bcf) per year of gas from phase two will cost around $28 billion and create 15,000 jobs in Azerbaijan.

The launch and awards ceremony was sponsored by SOCAR-AQS and Fairmont Hotel Baku.

The Oil & Gas Year Azerbaijan 2015 is available here.

This first edition of The Oil & Gas Year series on the Congo-Brazzaville oil and gas industry presents an in-depth look at the key companies involved in the country’s oil and gas sector. It highlights in particular the country’s largest ongoing project, Total’s Moho Nord offshore, deep-water development.

At the event, The Oil & Gas Year held an awards ceremony to recognise the most outstanding companies and individuals operating in Congo’s oil and gas sector over the last year. Six awards were presented. The Moho Nord team from Total received the award for the Offshore Development of the Year award following the start launching of work on the project in 2014. The MKB Project, operated by Congo’s state-owned company SNPC, was awarded the Onshore Project of the Year award for its work on the largest onshore project ever undertaken by the country’s national oil company. Italian firm Eni was recognised for the country’s largest discovery of the year (1.2 billion barrels proved reserves) in 2014 at the Nené Marine field. And finally, French firm Necotrans was highlighted for its mandate to expand the river port at Brazzaville, an initiative that will open up the development of the nation’s onshore oil and gas opportunities.