ITF Discusses Middle East Challenges at Two Events

ITF, the global technology facilitator, will be highlighting the growing importance of innovation to solve Middle East oil and gas production challenges at two high profile events.

The organisation, which has a membership of global oil and gas operators and service companies, will exhibit for the first time at the SPE Intelligent Energy Middle East exhibition in Dubai and the following week will hold its fourth Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) cluster meeting, which will take place in Doha, Qatar.

SPE Intelligent Energy Middle East is taking place in Dubai from 28 to 30 October and ITF will be exhibiting on stand D46. This year’s theme – ‘Realising the Full Asset Value’ – reflects the critical challenges facing the industry including field development in harsher, more complex environments, activity in integrated operations and the role of real-time data in managing risk.

Similar topics around the growing importance of technology in maximising production will be discussed and explored in greater depth during ITF’s fourth GCC meeting to be held on the 5 and 6 of November in Doha, Qatar. The event will be hosted by GE at the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) with around 50 of the region’s key oil and gas figures expected to attend.

Ryan McPherson, ITF’s Regional Director in the Middle East and Asia Pacific said: “We hope that by having both events in the Middle East around the same time will stimulate industry leaders and innovators to strengthen and forge collaborative initiatives. Our aim is to help establish highly effective working partnerships between technology developers and operators as combined knowledge and experience in technology development, as well as investment, are key to the continued growth of the oil and gas industry worldwide.

“With a large number of our members supporting our next GCC meeting, this endorsement elevates ITF’s growing reputation in the Middle East. Since the launch of the Middle East cluster group last year, we are moving forward to identify and tackle the specific technology challenges being faced in the region, such as water management, asset integrity and enhanced oil recovery.”

ITF – which has a base in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City – has a growing list of Middle East operator and National Oil Company members who collaborate on funding specifically required and requested technologies. The most recent company to join ITF’s membership is Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO). Other Middle East members include Qatar Petroleum (QP), Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), Kuwait Oil Company as well as Houston based Aramco Services Company.

ITF members have invested more than AED 353 million (£60 million) on funding more than 200 pioneering global joint industry projects. Many of the technologies developed and are now making a difference in the field. The organisation is seeking to engage with many more oil and gas companies in the region to source solutions to exceptional challenges in exploration and production.

ITF is a not-for-profit organisation owned by 32 international oil and gas operator and service companies. It is the only global collaborative R&D funding programme operating across continents. Since its formation in 1999, the organisation has facilitated the launch of more than 200 joint industry projects (JIPs) from early stage projects through to field trials and commercialisation. It aims to secure a further £50 million for technologies over the next three to five years.

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Press Release, October 17, 2013