Undersecretary at Ministry of Oil & Gas inaugurates Opal conference

Muscat: Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, the undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil & Gas, inaugurated the 1st Opal Oil & Gas Conference (OGCC) at the Grand Millennium Hotel yesterday.
The two-day conference, organised by Oman Society for Petroleum Services (Opal) and managed by pioneer and biggest exhibitions and conferences organiser Omanexpo, was opened with a welcome address by Musallam Al Mandhari, CEO, Opal and opening remarks by Dr Amer Al Rawas, chairman, Opal and Al Aufi.
The first day sessions will revolve around the themes Alternative Technologies in Oil and Gas, and Cybersecurity in the Oil and Gas Industry, which will be presented by high-level speakers from Occidental of Oman (OXY), Oman Oil Company Exploration & Production (OOCEP), Glasspoint Solar, RoNikInspectioneering B.V., BP Oman, Information Technology Authority (ITA), Gulf Business Machines, Trowers&Hamlins, Deloitte and Siemens.
The first day will culminate in an interactive panel session that will focus on maximising the protection of assets and an HSE workshop about effective learning from major process safety incidents.
The second day will focus on regulations in the oil and gas industry and Oman’s In-Country Value (ICV) Strategy and the development of a specialised, efficient workforce for the industry in order to raise awareness about the growing investment opportunities in the Sultanate. Dr Anwar Al Kharusi, Oman Oil Company; Brad Hubbard, International Centre of Regulatory Excellence (ICORE); Sadiq Al Lawati, Occidental of Oman; Amer Al Sinani, Ministry of Oil & Gas; Dr Raied Abdulkarim, ORPIC, and more will give presentations.
The interactive panel session will centre on ICV and the future of ICV.
The two-day affair will end with a CEO panel session on Oman’s oil and gas industry forecast and action plan until 2020 and an exclusive gala dinner.
Mandhari said, “By bringing together a pool of thought leaders under one roof, we are aiming to increase knowledge and awareness about the potential opportunities in the Sultanate’s oil and gas sector. With Oman’s ICV initiatives launched to increase the percentage from 18 to 32 by 2020, our contribution through this platform is to further the establishment and expansion of industries and services and boost job creation and Omani economic growth.”
OGCC’s supporter and sponsor lineup include Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), Oxy Oman, OOCEP, Maqshan Oil & Gas Services, Oman LNG and Daleel Petroleum.