Saudi Aramco is holding the first Saudi Pipeline International Conference and Exhibition (SPICONX) at the Dhahran Expo in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, from October 3-6.
Being held under the theme, ‘Connecting Futuristic Global Pipelines Sector’, this will be the very first time a conference dedicated to the pipelines sector with this magnitude is ever hosted in the Middle East for the global pipelines fraternity.
According to Mohammad Al-Hatlani, General Managar, Pipelines, Aramco: "SPICONX's vision is to gather ‘pipeliners' from around the globe and establish an international platform to connect and build on the successes achieved so far and shape the future."
He says the importance of SPICONX comes from the fact that the pipelines sector is facing critical transformation challenges and great opportunities alike to achieve operational excellence and sustain reliable energy supply to the world.
The conference and exhibition will offer a holistic life cycle view of pipelines covering the latest technologies and business transformation attempting to shaping the future beyond imagination.
SPICONX will connect a wide cross-section of the industry, including pipelines operators, maintainers, designers, technical professionals, HR SME’s, HSE practitioners, technologies developers and service providers, strategic thinkers, entrepreneurs and business creators, innovators, software developers, economists and finance experts, policy makers, universities, researchers and students.
Oil and gas pipelines are the largest industrial infrastructures that have been recently attracting major investments globally.
The pipelines sector is expected to grow at more than 6.5 per cent during the forecast period of 2022-2027.
According to the Global Energy Monitor, there were 2,381 operational oil and gas pipelines distributed across some 162 countries as of December 2020. The combined length of these pipelines is more than 1.18 million km.
The Middle East itself has more than 400 active pipelines, and the longest crude oil and gas pipelines network been constructed by Saudi Arabia.
With the increase in pipelines projects linking countries and continents around the world, the associated financial and business commitments are huge and thus the robustness and reliability of pipelines systems are of paramount importance to societies at large.
In parallel, the rapid evolution in pipelines technologies, the introduction of new services like hydrogen and carbon dioxide to support the future of decarbonisation, and the vital importance of sustaining the energy transportation via current and future pipelines necessitates the global pipelines sector to unite and lead the transformation.
The primary objective of SPICONX is to establish a professional environment which facilitates the exchange of pipelines industry best practices in order to allow attendees to exchange knowledge and expertise which can be used to optimise pipelines design and operational strategies.
In addition, new models and technologies will be presented allowing participants to acquire up-to-date knowledge and awareness of industry evolution.
Abdullah Al Mansour, Vice President - Pipelines Distribution & Terminals, Saudi Aramco, says: "SPICONX will demonstrate the importance of the pipeline sector, and the need for developing and implementing advanced pipeline systems to create a sophisticated network across the globe to enhance the supply and demand of the most precious commodities."
