A NUMBER of additions are in store this year at the region’s largest gas and oil show – Adipec. Amongst the special features of this year’s packed schedule is the Women in Industry event in the 2013 Adipec programme.

Sheikha Lubna AI Qasimi, UAE Minister of Development and International Co-operation, is heading the panel discussion entitled ‘Women in Industry’.

At Adipec 2012, more than 9 per cent of visitors were women, an increase over previous editions, and a topic that will feature at the 2013 event. Increasingly across the world more and more women are entering the gas and oil workforce.

As a global industry, gas and oil companies face a common challenge, the workforce is aging and there is a real requirement to recruit young engineers. Traditionally, the energy industries have been male dominated, but that is a changing, especially across the Middle East region. Highly skilled and qualified women are increasing looking to join the workforce.

The Middle East region can already demonstrate its readiness to embrace this change in the workforce with successful female senior executives leading large producer companies. These are inspirational figures: their stories are often tilled with valuable experience that can help other develop. Gaining access to such leaders isn’t easy and as a result Adipec thought we might be able to offer a little help.

On November 11, Adipec will utilise the beautiful surroundings of the Middle East Petroleum Club to host an evening reception, for women to meet inspirational leaders such as Sheikha Lubna, and allow them to share their stories of inspiration. The evening offers a relaxed atmosphere, with an informal panel session, hosted by Elthne Trainor, herself a successful business woman working within the Middle East’s gas and oil market as a media specialist. Trainor, along with her three special guests, will create an opportunity to meet, listen to and question the speakers.

INSPRING THE NEXT GENERATION
Young Adipec is bringing an entirely new demographic to the gas and oil conversation, school children. Starting in September and continuing through to the end of Adipec 2013, the programme aims at engaging students to consider a career in gas and oil.

Young Adipec brings a new demographic to the gas and oil conversation, school children. Starting in September and continuing through to the end of Adipec 2013 on November 13, the programrne aims to engage students to consider a career in gas and oil. Young Adipec is a three phase-programme that directly interacts with students aged 11 to 18 to inform, engage and inspire them to take a career in the industry.

Phase one includes a series of field trips available to more than 2CG selected students from Abu Dhabi schools, giving the children a chance to visit an oil field site, training centre and gas tool yard. Here they will interact with employees in gas and oil as well as see what it’s like to work in the industry.

In phase two, students across the UAE are invited to take part in a series of competitions. One competition, only available to students attending the field trip, will submit news bulletins and power point presentations about their excursion. Open to all students are two photo competitions, one focused on derivatives of oil and tile other allowing students to take their best snap of the Young Adipec zone at Adipec. This phase aims to emphasise the importance of gas and oil to the nation as well as trigger discussion about the breadth of reliance on the industry.

“Over 6,000 products are made from oil derivatives: our world would be very different without gas and oil production,“ says Jean-Phillipe Cossé, Adipec event director.

Commenting further, Cossé, emphasises: “we want students to stop and think about that for a moment and continue the discussion at school and home.”

The last phase of the programme, but hopefully not the last interaction with the students, will be at Adipec 2013. The Young Adipec zone in Hall 3 of Adipec will be divided into a museum and experience zone.