JEDDAH, 16 November 2006 — Senior executives and experts from Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, France, Germany, Canada, Britain and the United States will attend the Saudi Energy Forum, which opens at the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dammam on Saturday. The forum, to be attended by nearly 800 delegates, is the Kingdom’s premier biennial event titled “Leveraging hydrocarbons to create prosperity,” and provides an unrivaled platform for senior level government and industry leaders, project developers and potential joint venture partners to discuss upstream and downstream projects.
Eastern Province Gov. Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd will open the forum, according to Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid, chairman of the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EPCCI), which aims at promoting domestic and foreign investments in the Kingdom’s gas sector and related industries.
Confirmed speakers include Prince Faisal Bin Turki, adviser at the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, Abdullah Al-Naim, vice president of Saudi Aramco for exploration affairs, Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO of South Rub Al-Khali Company, Ramil Shaikhutdinov, president of Luksar Energy, Shicheng Wang, CEO of Sino Saudi Gas, Lorenzo Casati, CEO of EniRepSa Gas and Mohamed Al-Mady, vice chairman and CEO of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC).
Key topics to be discussed at the forum are: Update on Saudi Aramco’s gas projects and joint ventures; opportunities in the Kingdom’s petrochemicals industry; contractor, manufacturing and service industry involvement in major projects; and leveraging energy for the power, water and mining sectors. An exhibition will be held on the sidelines of the forum, the organizers said.
With one quarter of the world’s proven oil reserves and one of the largest natural gas reserves, Saudi Arabia remains the world’s largest energy reservoir for the foreseeable future. The opening of its upstream gas sector to foreign investment has produced significant opportunities for private sector investors, not only in energy but also petrochemicals, refining, utilities and services. The Kingdom has a proven gas reserves of 239.5 trillion cubic feet, ranking fourth in the world.
