Recently, The latest rally in crude oil prices hovering around US$120 per barrel has increased the economic prospects of the oil exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and will encourage them to increase their investment in Asset Integrity & Process Safety Management in order to strengthen the effectiveness and boost the life cycle of the assets in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) recently announced a $127 billion capital spending plan for 2022-2026, as it reported an increase in the UAE’s oil and natural gas reserves. The investment will expand upstream production capacity, the company’s downstream portfolio, plus low carbon and clean energy businesses, it said.
More than 120 delegates including decision makers in asset integrity and process safety, industry experts and key stakeholders in oil and gas sectors have joined the 2nd Asset Integrity and Process Safety Oil & Gas Conference that kicked off today (June 8, 2022), at the Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers Hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to share insights and best practices to tackle current and future challenges to achieve productivity gains while meeting safety and environmental standards in the oil, gas and petrochemical industry in the MENA region.
Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, Great Minds Event Management, the organizer of the 2nd Asset Integrity and Process Safety Oil & Gas Conference, says, “The latest rally in oil price will not only increase the revenues of the oil exporting countries but also increase investment in oil and gas assets to improve the asset quality and extend the life cycle.
“In this context, this regional conference is crucial in assessing the opportunities and I am glad that a considerable number of industry stakeholders have gathered here in Abu Dhabi – a major oil and gas hub in the region, where US$127 billion investment has been committed by ADNOC.
“The 2nd Asset Integrity and Process Safety Oil & Gas Conference is taking place at the very right time when everyone from the industry needs to explore the opportunities.”
Steve Matthews, Integrity Manager at Petrofac and Conference Chairman, said, “Pro-active integrity management and process safety system ensures improved asset performance, risk reduction, enhanced process safety, lower operational cost and asset life extension.”
Mohammed AlGhazal, CEO of Noor Energies, said, “Organisational culture of asset integrity and process safety is crucial to ensure best asset integrity. It is a differentiator in a safety culture. However, technology and remote work culture have also become very important in asset integrity following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asset integrity and process safety are not a destination, but a continuous journey. Technology is reshaping the asset integrity and process safety in order to optimize operational excellence.”
Martin Robinson, Founder and CEO of IRISS, said, a well-defined asset integrity system can pay back 40% of TCR in an oil refinery. “So, it is a huge saving. Designing for Safety and Reliability can ensure huge savings in asset integrity and process safety and industries should ensure this.”
Oil revenues in the MENA region are projected to increase by an average of 5.3 percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP) this year compared to 2021, reaching a total of $818 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is an upwards revision of $320 billion compared with the IMF’s previous outlook in October. The oil windfall will help rebuild fiscal buffers and cushion the effect of the war in Ukraine, but MENA oil exporters will be exposed to higher volatility, the IMF said.
Energy investments in MENA are forecast to grow to US$805 billion from 2021-to 2026, according to the MENA Energy Investment Outlook 2021-2025 issued by Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP), and continue in the upcoming 5 years, namely on the strength of sustained higher oil and gas prices and planned unconventional gas and upstream investments.
“Despite the region’s strong appetite for directing more funds to petrochemicals, especially for planned commitments, it makes more sense under current market conditions to focus on enhancing cost and operating efficiencies rather than absolute expansion – thus to favour brownfield vs. greenfield projects,” it said, reflecting the need for refocusing on the asset integrity and asset quality in oil and gas sector.
The global market size, measured by revenue, of the Global Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry, is US$5 trillion in 2022 and is expected to increase by 27.5% by end of 2022. The market size of the Global Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry has grown 12.3% per year on average between 2017 and 2022, faster than the economy overall.
The high-profile two-day 2nd Asset Integrity and Process Safety Oil & Gas Conference takes place at a time when governments have planned to launch US$652 billion worth of oil, gas and petrochemicals projects across the MENA region, according to MEED Projects, a regional project tracker. These offer abundant future opportunities for contractors, consultants and suppliers working in the oil, gas and petrochemicals sector in the region.
As oil and gas and petrochemical sectors are capital intensive, maintaining optimal performance levels is critical to sustaining profitability. Asset integrity and process safety are strongly interrelated and of significant importance, as they play a key role in anticipating and preventing events in advance and recommend appropriate action plans for optimal performance. It is always critical to have safe and smooth operations of oil and gas facilities and installations, from oil fields and offshore platforms to pipelines and refineries.
Countries in the MENA region are planning to add 2 million b/d of refining capacity by the end of 2022. More than US$200 billion is expected to be ploughed into new refining and petrochemicals ventures in the GCC by 2025.
Developing asset integrity and process safety management plans that utilize the best methods and solutions at an optimized frequency while reducing costs and maintaining assets in their best possible state is the ultimate goal. However, the industry still struggles with attaining excellence in asset integrity and process safety due to critical challenges, such as the change in operating parameters versus the design stage, material degradation, corrosion, fatigue and deviations from the fundamental principles of HAZOP.
In line with this, the 2nd Asset Integrity and Process Safety in Oil & Gas Conference, taking place on 8 – 9 June 2022 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, brings together decision makers, industry and technology experts, and influencers to share insights and best practices on how to effectively manage assets to deliver value, and showcase the latest technological advancements and innovative solutions to tackle current and future challenges to achieve productivity gains while meeting safety and environmental standards.
More than 25 speakers, from 10+ countries, are participating in the two-day forum. The participants include decision-makers, directors, heads and specialists from asset integrity, operations, pipeline integrity, maintenance, corrosion, business continuity planning, process safety, design & engineering, digital transformation, plant management, automation, information technology, data analytics & data science and many other departments from the oil & gas and petrochemicals industry.
The 2nd Asset Integrity and Process Safety Oil & Gas Conference is supported by IRISS, among other leading players.
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