SAUDI ARABIA. The 2nd edition of the Saudi Arabia International Oil & Gas Exhibition & Conference (SAOGE) attracted a total of 6770 attendees over the 3 days.

Piero Zipoli, President, IES during the closing ceremony said “This year has surpassed expectations, the attendance grew by 23% and we welcomed 274 companies from around the world.

The figure for visitors this year has also grown with 6770 industry representatives visiting the exhibition, quite an achievement given the economic downturn that we have been witnessing’

Held under the Patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Fahad Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, SAOGE 2009 saw a total increase in attendance by 23% from SAOGE 2008. 

This edition of SAOGE had seen many more high profile figures including Lord Digby Jones, the former Minister of Trade and Industry UK and Dr Randy Gossen, President of the World Petroleum Council who had lauded the Kingdom for its efforts, and progress in this industry. 

IES & and the DIEC (Dhahran International Exhibitions Company) had also thanked King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals and King Faisal University, College of Engineering for supporting the new ‘Industry Meets University’ initiative. Industry representatives from JESCO (Jubail Energy Services Co.) and South Rub Al Khali Co Ltd had dedicated themselves yesterday to address student questions and provide them with an overview of the career opportunities available in the industry.

Ali Abdel Wahab Al- Hawthi, 5th year student studying petroleum engineering at KFUPM participating in the initiative commented on his experience ‘this initiative helped me gain more insight into the industry on an international level. We discovered a lot of career opportunities especially since the Kingdom was not largely affected by the economic crisis.

The sessions held were a motivation for the students to interact and excel. This is my first time taking part in something like this and we would like to see more sessions such as these’.

Bader Imad Al-Saleh a freshman at Al Faisal University majoring in construction engineering who had a presentation on how a construction engineer can serve the oil and gas industry felt the sessions were very helpful and was impressed by the number of companies, CEO’s and General managers who were present. ‘It was really beneficial to see how the actual tools (for production & exploration) used today function and how things actually happen’

The closing was marked by an award ceremony for poster sessions and conference speakers. Categories included:

Best Poster was awarded to OnSpec Engineering Solutions for their session on Compressor System studies Best Quality Presentation goes to Rolf Panzke from Siemens who had been part of the panel discussing the role of technology and assessed some of the new best products and practise available.
Best Presentation for content goes to Alain Panhard from SRAK on the New Ventures and Regional Outlook Panel

The IES and DIEC have have already set dates for SAOGE 2010. It is scheduled to be on October 10- 12 2010. Building on the further succcess of SAOGE 2009, exhibitiors have already begun booking their places for SAOGE 2010.

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