GCC oil industry urged to focus on sustainability

Muscat: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) oil companies should focus on economic sustainability if they are to maintain the value of the region’s natural resources into the future, said Intisaar Al Kindi, exploration director at Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).
PDO is recognised as a leader in enhanced oil recovery (EOR), finding innovative solutions to industry problems, the latest example being the pioneering $600 million Miraah solar thermal power project. Due to come online in 2017, Miraah will use the sun’s energy to produce super-heated steam, which can be injected into oil wells to make the recovery of viscous crude – or ‘heavy oil’ – easier and cheaper.
These savings can help offset instability in global oil prices, with the Sultanate’s 2016 budget outlining a 33 per cent fall in oil and gas revenues to OMR6.15 billion, down from OMR9.16 billion in 2015.
Others in the industry are taking note, and Al Kindi says oil companies across the region must challenge the way they work if they are to succeed in the current economic climate.
“Ensuring that our business is sustainable is a long-term goal for PDO, but the current global challenges facing our industry also underline the importance of achieving sustainability now,” said Al Kindi.
“To be successful in this objective, we still need to deliver on our core activities, including safety, asset integrity, production, early monetisation of exploration opportunities, well and reservoir management, and operational excellence, while mitigating our environmental impact,” Al Kindi added.
“It is possible to do all of this through continued business improvement, rigorous cost control, a more collaborative relationship with contractors, and the utilisation of new technologies.”
Al Kindi will represent PDO at the Middle East’s largest industry gathering, the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) in November, and is also a member of Adipec’s Executive Committee.
“Against this challenging background, Adipec offers an important international platform to present our ideas, to discuss issues of common interest with colleagues from around the world, and learn from industry best practice.”
How the GCC industry responds to the shifting market, both in the short and longer term, will be an important point of discussion during the Adipec gathering, which brings together leading international experts from all sectors of the industry to share knowledge and experience.
The event is expected to attract more than 2,300 exhibiting companies, 8,500 delegates, 700 speakers, and 100,000 trade professionals from 135 countries. Increasingly, Adipec considers petroleum’s role as part of a broader energy mix, with the theme ‘Strategies for the New Energy Landscape’ setting the agenda for a distinguished conference programme in 2016.