Oman oil and gas xxhibition 2012 kicks off

The 8th version of Oman Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference 2012 kicked off at Oman International Exhibition Centre today under the auspices of Sayyid Asa\'ad bin Tariq al-Said and lasts for three days. The conference will cover issues related to using Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technologies. A number of experts in this field take part in this exhibition and conference.The chief guest expressed his optimism about the future of oil and gas industry in the Sultanate and stressed the need of the country to develop this vital sector to boost the Omani economy and the government\'s plans in this regard. He affirmed that the Omani companies in this sector have witnessed remarkable development during the past period.On his part, Nasser bin Khamis al-Jashmi, Undersecretary of the Oil and Gas Ministry said that the conference discusses issues related to ERO technologies and pointed out that the speakers will present their success and failure stories in this regard. In a press statement, he added that the conference aims at exchanging expertise among experts and affirmed that the Sultanate is one of the leading countries in implementing ERO projects. He pointed out that Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) company has three EOR project; using hot steam in Qarn Alam, gas in Harweel and chemicals in Marmul and Nimr As for the new discoveries, he expected that four agreements will be signed this year for exploration in new areas. Dr. Zayid bin Khamis al-Siyabi, Director of Oil and Gas Exploration at the Oil and Gas Ministry delivered a speech where he pointed out that the Sultanate is one of the leading countries in EOR. The success of EOR requires more researches and qualified human resources, he added. He pointed out that while 300 Arab and foreign participants take part at the conference, more than 125 participants from 25 Arab and foreign countries take part at the exhibition. Hassinah Hashim, Deputy Director General of Kuwait Oil Company pointed out that the company seeks to use EOR technologies as part of the company vision up to 2030. PDO General Managing Raoul Restucci said in a statement to Oman News Agency that PDO is one of the leading companies in the world in the field of using EOR technologies.