This fourth edition of The Oil & Gas Year series in Oman examines the government’s promotion of innovative oil and gas extraction techniques in 2014 and beyond, and highlights the nation’s drive to enhance the professional development of Omani nationals in all sectors of the economy.

The book also offers an in-depth look at the country’s success in the field of enhanced oil recovery, steps taken to monitor and improve the in-country value performance of companies in Oman and the development of the Khazzan field. The amended production-sharing agreement between the government and BP was named Upstream Deal of the Year. Petroleum Development Oman’s Rabab Harweel Integrated Project, which is expected to yield in excess of 5 mcm (177mcf) of natural gas per day in 2019, was heralded as Investment Decision of the Year.

TOGY’s country director presented the Joint Venture of the Year award to Special Technical Services and Tebodin & Partners while Masirah Oil was presented with the Offshore Discovery of the Year award for discovering hydrocarbons in its second offshore exploration well in Block 50 in February 2014.

The Oil & Gas Year Oman 2014, published by Wildcat International and produced in partnership with the Ministry of Oil and Gas and OPAL, also featured a chapter on the Strategic Roundtable held on May 8, 2014. The sector focus debate highlighted the government’s task to pioneer the use of innovative oil and gas extraction techniques, ensure the development of Omani nationals and encourage technology transfers.

According to Mohamed Abdel Aziz Metwally, chairman and CEO of refinery operator MIDOR, Egypt’s downstream sector would benefit from “the modernization of existing refineries and the construction of new ones.” He also urged the country to think big saying that “Egypt must think of itself as a global hub.”

Cabron Holdings chairman and CEO Basil El Baz echoed Metwally’s sentiment, and stated that Egypt had to concentrate on manufacturing rather than assembling. “Producing feedstock for petroleum plants and refineries within the country is essential, El Baz said.

Co-moderator and executive chairman of energy distribution company TAQA Arabia Khaled Abubakr pointed to the role the Suez Canal Expansion could play. “The new Suez Canal project will help in making Egypt a global hub for petrochemicals.

For that to happen, Wafik Hanna, partner at Deloitte, said that free zones would have to be created to attract investors. The “revision of existing regulation” would be needed in that regard as well.

The Commercial International Banks Heba Abdel Latif presented an equally long-term vision. “We need to look beyond the short/medium term and liberalise the oil and gas industry to go forward.”

TOGY’s Egypt 2015 strategic roundtable event was sponsored by Deloitte and Carbon Holdings.

The Minister of Energy, H.E. Suhail bin Mohamed Faraj Fares Al Mazrouei, delivered the keynote address at the launch event, which was succeeded by the year’s awards ceremony and a roundtable discussion. Commenting on the progress made in Abu Dhabi’s energy industry over the past year, he said, “Abu Dhabi continues to fulfil it’s responsibility as a reliable supplier to the world and an active member of OPEC, targeting the stability of the global energy market. In a time of unstable oil prices, we are showing in Abu Dhabi and across the country that, we remain dedicated to reaching our long-term production goals, which will be used in the future to meet the market requirements. ” Expressing his support for The Oil & Gas Year Abu Dhabi 2015, he added: “I wish to express my congratulations to The Oil & Gas Year on another successful publication. The report highlights the progress made in Abu Dhabi’s hydrocarbons industry.”

At the awards ceremony, H.E. Al Mazrouei presented the Man of the Year award to H.E. Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of Masdar and CEO of energy at Mubadala. The award recognised H.E. Al Jaber’s crucial role in developing Abu Dhabi’s sustainable energy initiatives and a continuous progression in his vision to embrace a cleaner energy mix through investment in renewable resource development and clean technologies at Masdar City.

In his award acceptance speech at the event, H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Energy at Mubadala, explained how the UAE is alleviating its natural gas dependency by enhancing the diversity of energy supply and increasing energy security. “The UAE leadership’s foresight has been fundamental in ensuring our growing economy is powered by a mix of energy sources,” said H.E Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, “Our investments across traditional and new forms of energy, has expanded our role as a responsible and reliable global energy leader. Ensuring our leadership role will require us to continue expanding our expertise, to invest in new technologies, to innovate and to transfer our knowledge to the next generation of energy leaders.”

Schlumberger was presented with the Technology and Innovation of the Year award for its new GeoSphere reservoir mapping-while drilling service. The Petroleum Institute received the Local Content Development of the Year award. The Oilfield Services Company of the Year award recognised Abu Dhabi’s National Drilling Company, while Linde Engineering picked up the EPC Company of the Year award. A new award, the Strategy and Execution Project of the Year, was given jointly to the Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company, the Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company and Abu Dhabi Gas Industries.

After the launch, H.E. Al Mazrouei chaired a roundtable discussion that brought together executives of several of the largest companies operating in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry to review local and international co-operation in increasing the UAE’s supply of natural gas.

The Oil & Gas Year Abu Dhabi 2015 provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by the emirate to supply enough energy to meet the needs of the UAE’s growing population and soaring energy demand. In The Oil & Gas Year Abu Dhabi 2015, ADNOC Director General H.E. Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi offered an insight into the national oil company’s evolving operational partnerships, particularly those with Asian entities. “ADNOC has been looking to develop new fields with good hydrocarbons prospects through new joint venture partnerships approved by the Supreme Petroleum Council,” H.E. Al Suwaidi said. “Rapidly growing Asian economies are large consumers of hydrocarbons and Abu Dhabi has built relations with several Asian countries through the oil and gas industry,” he added.

The event was sponsored by AlMansoori Specialized Engineering, Maersk Oil, PwC, Schlumberger and United Safety. The roundtable was sponsored by BP and Tenaris.

Minister Hawrami delivered the keynote address at the event attended by lead sponsor ExxonMobil and co-sponsors Chevron, Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, WesternZagros, UB Group and KAR at The Dorchester Hotel in London.

Attendees also raised money to support the hundreds of thousands refugees fleeing the violence in Iraq and Syria and seeking a safe haven in the Kurdistan Region. Proceeds went to Rise and Kurdistan Emergency Appeal.

Minister Hawrami was also presented with the Oil Minister of the Decade award in recognition of his leadership in bringing the Kurdistan Region of Iraq into the spotlight, and attracting key names in the oil and gas industry and working tirelessly to make the Kurdistan Region a recognised industry success.

Produced in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources, the fifth edition of the report presents a premier analysis of the region’s energy industry.

2014 was a transformative year for the Kurdistan Region. With the first independent pipeline exports through a soon-to-be 1-million-barrels of oil per day pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan and a ramp-up of production from recently discovered giant oilfields, the region maintains its status as the last great onshore exploration and production frontier.

Some of the region’s recent discoveries built-up production in 2014, including the Taq Taq and Tawke oilfields, with respective production capacities nearing 150,000 and 200,000 bopd, and the giant Shaikan field, which is expected to reach 100,000 bopd in phase one of its development plan.

Increasing production from these fields and increasing production at new licences under development, including Atrush, Akri-Bijeel, Hawler, Garmian, Ain Sifni, and Sarsang, will help reach a production target of 1,000,000 bopd by early 2016.

The report takes a detailed look at the landmark strategic energy alliance between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Turkey, and the importance of this partnership in facilitating the flow of oil and gas to international markets.

In less than a decade, the Kurdistan Region has gone from a high-risk gamble to a global exploration powerhouse, ranking amongst the top-10 oil reserves in the world. The Oil & Gas Year’s 2014 edition also features a special commemorative chapter detailing the KRG’s success in developing its oil sector in the decade since the spudding of the Region’s first oil well, Tawke-1, following the fall of the Ba’athist regime in Iraq.

In addition to TOGY’s energy report, the minister also received the award for Legislation of the Year in recognition of the passage of Gabon’s long anticipated and wide ranging Hydrocarbons Code.

Published by Wildcat International and produced in partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons, APIEX and UPEGA, The Oil & Gas Year Gabon 2014 presents an in-depth look at the developments of the country’s oil and gas industry, including interviews with major stakeholders such as Gabon Oil Union president Jacqueline Bignoumba, winner of TOGY Gabon Woman of the Year award, and Total directeur genéral adjoint Théodore Iyezé, who accepted the Local Content Developer of the Year on behalf of Total, which won the award for financing the construction of the Centre for Professional Specialisation to provide national workers engaged in hydrocarbons activities with the necessary technical skills. Gabonese Company of the Year went to local drilling company Foraserv, represented by general manager Marc Tchango. The accolades were awarded by TOGY publisher Emmanuelle Berthement and country director Marielle De Leener.

The Oil & Gas Year Gabon 2014, a carefully researched market report on a nation whose ultra-deepwater gas reserves are drawing international interest, also features the results of a strategic roundtable featuring key industry stakeholders and public representatives. The roundtable highlighted the importance of local content to making Gabon into a more attractive investment destination, as well as the country’s potential to become a major oil and gas hub in the region.

The launch event’s awards ceremony recognised the most outstanding companies and individuals operating in the Angolan oil and gas industry over the past year. Total E&P Angola received the award for Company of the Year following the start-up of its CLOV development and the sanctioning of its $16-billion Kaombo project in ultra-deepwater block 32. The ongoing and upcoming exploration and appraisal programmes in the country’s pre-salt Kwanza Basin also received significant attention, with Cobalt International Energy’s blocks 20 and 21 leading the way. Attention is similarly paid to the country’s offshore rig market, whose exponential growth has been inextricably linked to the rise in pre-salt activity. Paenal was awarded Fabrication Project of the Year for the fabrication and integration of the two largest ever wellhead platforms built in Angola.

Produced in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers, whose assurance partner Sarju Raikundalia spoke at the event, The Oil & Gas Year Angola 2014 highlights recent successes of in-country fabrication. In an effort to give this topic a special platform, TOGY’s energy report examines the continued Angolanisation efforts and recent milestones stemming from both the public and private sectors in the field of fabrication. A special chapter, as well as a strategic roundtable featuring key industry stakeholders, helped to bring this most pressing topic to the forefront.

Produced in partnership with the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy and Centurion LLP, the leading law firm in the region The Oil & Gas Year Equatorial Guinea 2014 highlights the dramatic uptick in drilling activity and the efforts made to monetise Equatorial Guinea’s recent gas finds through Africa’s very first floating LNG vessel.

Having worked to establish an economically viable business climate for both the state and international companies alike, director general of hydrocarbons for the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy Mercedes Eworo Milam was presented the Woman of the Year award.

TOGY’s editor-in-chief Gilles Valentin and chief operating officer Aslı Konyalı handed out the Upstream Development of the Year Award to Ophir Energy general manager Mike A. Cockman, recognising the importance of the company’s 10-well drilling programme in deepwater Block R that aims to increase reserves to 99 bcm (3.5 tcf). Hess was named Exploration and Production Company of the Year, with Marathon Oil’s Abla B3 compression platform receiving the honour of National Content Project of the Year.

Equatorial Guinea: A History of Oil, sponsored by Atlas Petroleum International, charts the history of the Equatoguinean oil and gas industry from the founding of the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy and the country’s initial production to the governments downstream diversification plans and future vision.

Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter delivered a keynote address, after which TOGY’s regional director and country director presented BHP Billiton vice-president of government and external affairs Fred Hagemeyer with the Company of the Year award. BHP Billiton’s $4-billion-per-year commitment to developing the Eagle Ford, as well as its drive for continued drilling and operating efficiencies, is an indication of the oil and gas industry’s confidence in developing unconventional shale in the US and an example of the valuable role international investors play in realising the US goal of energy independence.

With horizontal drilling and the hydraulic fracturing of shale driving Texas’ surge in hydrocarbons production, The Oil & Gas Year Eagle Ford Texas Shale 2014 pays particular attention to water management and technological innovation. Recognising the importance of the innovative NOMAD and ROVER water treatment systems, TOGY presented Fountain Quail the Water Management Company of the Year award. Santrol was awarded the Technology Innovation of the Year award for the development of self-suspending proppants allowing for better proppant penetration in horizontally fractured wells. Having closed more than 100 deals in the US between 2010 and 214, totalling just under $1 billion in value, Pickering, Holt & Co. was named Finance Provider of the Year. BG Group and Energy Transfer Partners were handed the LNG Deal of the Year award for their work on the Trunkline LNG Facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Placing special emphasis on emerging resource plays, The Oil & Gas Year Eagle Ford Texas Shale 2014 also offered an in-depth look at the economic impact of Eagle Ford shale play activity in years to come, especially as the benefits of exploitation increasingly extent throughout the Texas economy, enabling new infrastructure investment and bringing new business to the logistics and oilfield services sector.

Entitled Back On Its Feet: Colombia’s Second Oil Push, the roundtable event was composed of two sessions, covering the themes of increasing reserves and overcoming challenges. More specifically, much of the discussion centred on how new unconventional and offshore opportunities can help the country’s oil and gas industry get out of its slump. “There has been a very good alignment between services companies and operators to develop heavy-oil technologies and to make sure they are applied in a way that makes sense for the incremental production,” Vargas said.

Another important topic of discussion was how Colombia can continue to attract investment from international oil and gas companies, considering the reforms that have been enacted in Mexico and the opportunities in other Latin American countries. “There is a positive outlook for Colombia. If that was not the case, then there would not be so many international oil companies investing here,” Betancourt commented.

During the lively discussion, participants debated Colombia’s urgent need to increase its modest reserves and maintain its robust production in the face of significant social, regulatory and security challenges.

Participating were:

Javier Betancourt – President, Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos

Luis Giusti – Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic & International Studies (former chairman and CEO of PDVSA)

Humberto Calderón Berti – President, Vetra Energía (former chairman of PDVSA, Minister of Energy of Venezuela and president of OPEC)

Ricardo Sarmiento – Vice President of Asset Delivery and Technical Resources, Talisman Energy Colombia

Mauricio Vargas – President, Schlumberger Colombia

Warren Levy – Director and Founder, Estrella International Energy Services

Jorge Neher – Partner, Norton Rose

AWARDS: Abdul Rahman Jawahery, president of the Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, was given the Man of the Year award during the ceremony, held at the Al Murjan Room at the Gulf Hotel. Awards were also given to BASF, Petrochemicals Project of the Year; to Bahrain Polytechnic University, Education Institution of the Year; the Bahrain International Investment Park, Industrial Park of the Year; to the Bahrain Petroleum Company, HSBC and BNP Paribas, Financial Advisory of the Year; and to Tatweer Petroleum, Upstream Project of the Year. Key private and public sector players from Bahrain’s oil and gas industry were in attendance.

PARKS, PLANTS AND GAS: The core of this year’s publication saw natural gas usage, industrial activity and upstream development of the Bahrain oilfield feature prominently. Also part of the publication is a roundtable discussion on the implications of energy subsidies for Bahrain’s economic growth, and the policy that could be directed towards conserving precious natural gas resources.

Of the major projects ongoing in Bahrain, the appointment of banking groups HSBC and BNP Paribas as financial advisors to the $4-6-billion Bahrain Petroleum Company refinery upgrade features as the Year’s Focus. The publication also examines a steam injection programme, which was upgraded from the pilot stage by Tatweer, a consortium between US-based Occidental Petroleum, the UAE’s Mubadala Petroleum and the Bahraini government. Additional recognition was given to BASF for beginning production at its antioxidant blend plant, to Bahrain Polytechnic for graduating its first class of students and to Bahrain International Investment Park for seeing four energy-related companies commission plants in the past 12 months.

CEO of The Oil & Gas Year, Guillaume Doane, said: “The scale of upstream activity and industrial development taking place is unprecedented by Bahraini standards. The kingdom is on the doorstep of making critical choices that will address acute resource shortages and sustain long-term energy development.”