The 3rd Middle East Maintenance Conference & Exhibition (MAINTCON 2014) will be held from Dec. 7-10, 2014. The event is organized by the Gulf Society of Maintenance Professionals (GSMP) and the Bahrain Society of Engineers (BSE).

It is also supported by the Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management (GFMAM), and is under the auspices of the Minister of Finance, Minister in charge of Oil and Gas Affairs of Bahrain, Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa.

One of the primary objectives of this conference is to discuss current and future challenges facing the region maintenance industry by capitalizing on best practices, technologies and innovation in the field of maintenance.

Nezar Al-Shammasi, chairman MAINTCON 2014, mentioned that the conference is being held at a time where oil prices are sliding down, which makes us investigate alternative means to optimize maintenance for our facilities. He added that the oil, gas and petrochemical industry in the Gulf region spends approximately $10 billion annually.

Nezar mentioned that the conference program includes 4 pre-conference workshops, the maintenance certification for interested participants, and the actual technical program, which includes 57 strong technical presentations.

The technical sessions are distributed in 3 tracks over 2 and half days to ensure flexibility for the participants to choose the desired sessions.

Masoud Al-Harmi, president, Bahrain Society of Engineers (BSE), mentioned that the conference will include six keynote speeches from well-known industry leaders from the region, where two keynote speakers will be presenting on each day of the conference.

They include Ahmad O. Al-Khowaiter (Saudi Aramco), Peter Bartlett (Bapco), Khaled Ahmed Al-Qubaisi (ADMA OPCO), Abdulla A. Al-Sumaiti (Kuwait Oil Company), Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Bibi (National Industrialization Company –Tasnee), and Jan van der Velden (Flowserve Engineered Products Division, Seal Operations, Europe, MEA).