HRH Premier delegates Energy Minister to open MEPEC 2015

Manama, Sept. 15 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa the Prime Minister delegated Energy Minister Dr. Abdulhussain bin Ali Mirza for opening the Third Middle East Process Engineering Conference (MEPEC 2015). Hosted in the Kingdom of Bahrain under the kind patronage of His Royal Highness the Premier, the conference is being held from September 15 to 17 by Bahrain Exhibition & Convention Authority (BECA) in cooperation with American Institute of Chemical Engineers, supported by Middle East Energy Events, and the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA), with an overwhelming participation from international, Gulf and Bahraini oil companies. The minister expressed his gratitude and appreciation to H.R.H. the Prime Minister for his great support and encouragement to MEPEC 2015, and for patronising the series since its launch in 2011, which he said, maintained its prestige in global forums as one of the leading specialists oil events to promote knowledge and expertise exchange among participating professionals, including a large number of engineers and technicians from various national, regional and global oil and gas companies. Dr. Mirza said he was pleased that MEPEC was being held in Bahrain for the third consecutive year, which increased the prestige of the country. MEPEC had gained a high reputation among conferences promoting engineering operations and attracted a large turnout and growing participation from the Middle East region by exhibitors in the fields of energy, oil and gas, including global oil giants and prominent international institutions. The minister, in his opening speech, expressed his highest praise while congratulating H.R.H. the Prime Minister on the occasion of being honoured with the prestigious International Telecommunication Union Award recently as a global appreciation of his crucial role in achieving sustainable development goals and for the Kingdom’s remarkable progress in developing information and communication technology, and other landmark achievements of the government in bolstering development in all fields. He pointed out that the theme of the conference this year met the requirements of the more than 1,500 international delegates, out of which over 80% were engineers and from technical disciplines, who had gathered at the venue to address procedural issues, review administrative and technical solutions, exchange practical experience and review best practices so as to contribute in improving the future of process engineering world over. Dr. Mirza congratulated the recipients of the Leadership Excellence Awards for Women (LEWA) and the organising team led by Nabilah M. Al-Tunisi for celebrating innovation, leadership, achievement and talent among women in the academic and business sectors of the oil industry in the oil and gas sector. The minister stressed the need for more engineering solutions to meet the diverse challenges in the field of process engineering as a result of population growth and increasing need which demanded more work to strengthen cooperation between the engineering processes and technology, noting the need to balance the imbalance we were increasingly facing in the current fluctuating fuel prices that affected oil producing countries, in addition to the need to use available solutions to streamline operational expenses in the vital sector. He said NOGA was implementing a number of vital projects supporting the development of the oil and gas sector in Bahrain. Among them were the Bahrain Refinery modernization project, a strategic project to upgrade GCC’s first refinery, established as early as 1936. The project would enhance its competitiveness, profitability and sustained contribution to national economy by increasing its production capacity from 260,000 to 360,000 barrels per day. He spoke about the crude oil pipeline expansion project to replace the 75-year-old pipeline connecting the oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the Bahrain Refinery. He said the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) was currently promoting the unique features of the project at specialized global events, and inviting oil giants to participate in the tendering process to begin in the first half of 2016. The minister disclosed that NOGA was also in the final stages of awarding the construction of the Liquefied Natural Gas Project with a capacity of 400 million cubic feet, an increase in capacity to 800 million cubic feet, expressing his happiness with the NOGA plan to increase the manufacturing capacity of Bahrain National Gas (Banagas) by 350 million cubic feet of associated gas. He said NOGA was presently seeking to obtain new renewable energy sources to meet the growing demand of Bahrain and supports the study of best sources of alternative energy using modern technology to generate wind and solar energy. It had initiated sustainable energy pilot projects and installed energy efficiency units through newly launched alternative energy programs, with the possibility of expansion to the Refinery and Bapco Township in Awali, as well as the University of Bahrain. The minister expressed his appreciation to the NOGA Holding Chief Executive Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and the Conference Advisory Committee Chairman Audah A. Al Ahmadi for their outstanding efforts in the preparation, organization and great arrangements made at the conference, which made it a highly effective event. He also expressed his appreciation to the speakers who headed the key conference sessions, and to delegates and exhibitors, wishing them every success. While speaking at the opening session Shaikh Mohammed expressed his delight in Bahrain being a unique and attractive location for big conferences such as MEPEC under the patronage of H.R.H. the Prime Minister, which in turn underlined his support for oil and gas sector events held in the Kingdom. Dr. Mirza inaugurated the accompanying MEPEC2015 Exhibition, in which more than 250 companies including those from petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas industries participated with exhibits spread over an estimated area of 8000 metres, with displays from companies and institutions representing 35 countries around the world, and more than 5,000 visitors.