ABU DHABI is at the heart of the oil and gas industry and Adipec has played a significant role in positioning Abu Dhabi as a key destination for this sector,” says Kimon Alexandrou, commercial director, dmg :: events in an exclusive interview with OGN. dmg :: events is the organiser of Adipec 2012.

“We face more technical challenges to grow production volumes in a sustainable and responsible fashion, developing our skills and sharing knowledge are central to meeting these challenges.

“We believe the event and exhibition is supporting the growth of the industry as well as creating significant business tourism within the city of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a whole,” he adds while laying down the tangible benefits the UAE has achieved year after year by holding the premier event. Excerpts from the interview:

Ever since its inception, Adipec has carved out a niche for itself as a leading oil and gas exhibition in the region. What according to you has led to the remarkable progress and growth of Adipec into a world-class event over the years?

To give you a brief history about Adipec, the event began in 1984 as a platform for oil and gas professionals to come together to network, discover new ideas, and debate our core industry issues. Since the beginning it has benefited from local support with Adnoc and its group of companies supporting the event from the beginning.

No other event of its kind manages to pull together the variety of exhibitors, top quality speakers, industry delegates, and quality of paper submissions in the region.

Today, Adipec is more than just an exhibition and includes many features to entertain, learn, develop and network. Ranging from the technical conference, organised in association with Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), through to a dedicated outdoor, offshore and marine section, an oil and gas museum through to the Adipec briefings and Middle East Petroleum Club, visiting Adipec is a must to enhance your business needs.

From a biennial event in 1984, Adipec now is going to be an annual event from next year. What prompted that decision and what prospects do you see for the show in the coming years?

Over the last few years we have seen some very strong growth in Adipec to the point where in 2012 we have more than 100 exhibitors on a waiting list who cannot exhibit.

Therefore, with the support of Adnoc, and the demand for companies wanting to showcase their products at Adipec, we made the decision to make the event annual so more exhibitors can benefit from the opportunities Adipec offers.

Adipec 2013, taking place in November 2013, will have a strong focus on gas, reflecting its increasing share of the global energy mix and heightened regional demand for gas for power generation.

What tangible benefits does the UAE hope to achieve by organising Adipec year after year?

Abu Dhabi is at the heart of the oil and gas industry, Adipec has played a significant role in positioning Abu Dhabi as a key destination for this sector. We face more technical challenges to grow production volumes in a sustainable and responsible fashion, developing our skills and sharing knowledge are central to meeting these challenges.

We believe the event and exhibition is supporting the growth of the industry as well as creating significant business tourism within the city of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a whole.

For the Adipec conference, we believe that more than 1,500 paper submissions were received from 58 countries. That says a lot about the scale of the conference and its technical depth. How do you organise this and decide on the selection?

Unseen during each Adipec exhibition, a group of leading industry figures work tirelessly behind the scenes to create and influence the development of the conference.

Led by the conference chairman, Ali Al Jarwan, CEO Adma-Opco, planning and preparation for this year’s event started as far back as August 2011, when the committee came together for the first time. Despite their already heavy workload, the 30 individuals give their time and extensive knowledge of the industry’s requirements.

Through hours of discussion, presentations and reports, the committee identifies and refines the list of topics, themes and speakers required to inform, entertain and educate the attendees.

Working alongside the committee are the individual members of the SPE. They support the programme and add their expertise and assistance in such complex matters as scheduling and coordinating the large number of speakers into the timetable, organising the sub-committees and communicating with all of the speakers. SPE’s contribution is significant and appreciated.

The conference theme for this year is Sustainable Energy Growth: People, Responsibility and Innovation. Why was this topic chosen?

The 2012 edition of the Adipec conference, organised in conjunction with the SPE has been designed to examine a range of best practices as well as cutting-edge technology solutions aimed at meeting present and future challenges in the oil and gas industry.

With all the challenges we now face right from the extraction of oil to new environmental challenges, we feel that now is the time to debate and discuss such issues.

The topic and content has led to the largest ever conference programme being put together which includes: more than 400 papers selected from the 1,500 submissions, 235 speakers presenting in 50 technical sessions across seven streams covering five main disciplines (Geosciences, Drilling and Completion, Projects, Field Development, Maintenance/Integrity/HSE/Operations)

Among the vast subjects of oil and gas, which topics will get considerable attention in the conference programme and why?

We believe all aspects of the conference are equally important and will discuss issues relevant to this year’s theme.

In addition to the five core topics mentioned above, we have a long list of key speakers and moderators who will cover two plenary and five panel sessions, in addition to the 50 technical sessions.

What is the expected number of exhibitors and visitors to the event this year? What will be the special highlights of the show this year?

As I mentioned, Adipec will be the largest event for the Middle East oil and gas industry from both a conference and exhibition point of view.

Put into numbers, the sheer size of the conference has been covered but from an exhibition point of view, this means that 38,000 sq m of exhibition space will be covered by more than 1,600 exhibitors from 90 countries.

We expect more than 45,500 attendees to walk through the doors over the four days while 4,000 delegates will be discovering the latest developments and innovations within the oil and gas industry.

There are so many highlights for Adipec 2012 but a few key highlights include:

The fact that we have managed to put together the largest conference of its kind for the region. When we surpassed the number of papers submitted in 2010 and reached out record number of 1,500 submissions, I knew we had the making of a very good conference programme.

The introduction of the new outdoor exhibits and offshore halls which will host more than 100 exhibitors and will help cater the growing number of companies wishing to exhibit.

The second key highlight will be the Adipec Awards which will recognise excellence in the Mena oil and gas industry. The awards will be held on the evening of the November 11 and will be accompanied by a dinner held at the St Regis Saadiyat Resort.

Can you tell us some of the big dignitaries and individuals from the oil and gas world who will be attending the show as speakers /members?

As you can imagine, weeks out from the event, we are still finalising our list of dignitaries but are working extremely hard to welcome a number of very high level dignitaries from not just the UAE but also from around the region and internationally.

In terms of speakers, we have already covered who will be attending earlier but VIPs from NOCs, IOCs and services companies will be in attendance and will be hosted in a dedicated, business class level facility which will be built on site at Adipec and offer our distinguished guests the opportunity to network and relax away from busy exhibition halls.