AD CP underlines importance of Abu Dhabi as global energy hub

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Sunday attended the 4th Abu Dhabi CEO Roundtable, where 30 of the world’s leading oil and gas companies gathered to discuss key industry challenges and opportunities in today’s fast evolving global economy.

The roundtable was held at Adnoc’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi and hosted by Dr Sultan Bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO. The roundtable focused on how best to utilise new technologies, people and partnerships, to responsibly provide the energy needed for sustainable economic growth.

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed welcomed the CEOs to the roundtable, which he said underlined the importance of Abu Dhabi as a global energy hub. He commended the initiative of Adnoc to bring together the world’s top industry executives, on the eve of Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC), and expressed the hope the CEOs’ discussions would help advance the global oil and gas industry.

Dr Al Jaber said, “The 4th industrial age is creating a paradigm shift in global growth and energy demand. The open and wide-ranging discussion, enabled by the roundtable, focused on the key role oil and gas will play, as an essential part of the broader energy mix, in enabling tomorrow’s global economy.

“In particular, we discussed how our industry can continue to play a key role in meeting the rising demand for energy with fewer emissions, by adopting new technologies, empowering our people, operating sustainably and leveraging partnerships.” The roundtable was moderated by the leading energy economist and Pulitzer-Prize winning author Dr Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman of IHS Markit.

“The roundtable provided an important opportunity to discuss the critical question of the contribution of the energy and petrochemicals industries to a sustainable energy future that meets the needs of a growing world. The discussion brought focus to the essential need to develop the future talent that is required in the digital age,” Yergin said.

In addition to Dr Al Jaber, the roundtable was attended by Amin Nasser, President and CEO, Saudi Aramco; Claudio Descalzi, CEO, ENI; Takayuki Ueda, President and CEO, INPEX; Philippe Boisseau, CEO, CEPSA; Sanjiv Singh, Chairman, Indian Oil; Dr. Antonio Costa Silva, President of the Management Commission, Partex; Todd Karran, President and CEO, Nova Chemicals; Vicki Hollub, CEO, Occidental; Wang Yilin, Chairman, CNPC; Musabbeh Al Kaabi, CEO, Mubadala Petroleum and Petrochemicals; Patrick Pouyanné, CEO, Total; Bob Dudley, CEO, BP; Alfred Stern, CEO, Borealis; Dr. Vagit Alekperov, President, LUKOIL; Tsutomu Sugimori, President, JXTG; Proscovia Nabbanja, Acting CEO, Uganda National Oil Company; Dr. Yang Su Yeong Yang, President and CEO, KNOC; Lorenzo Simonelli, Chairman, President and CEO BHGE; Lord John Browne, Executive Chairman, L1; Liu Yijiang, Chairman, ZheunHua Oil; Hur Sae-Hong, President and CEO, GS Caltex; Jun Kim, President and CEO, SK Innovation; Felipe Bayon Pardo, CEO, Ecopetrol SA; Li Shuirong, Chairman, Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group; Olivier Le Peuch, CEO, Schlumberger; Mario Mehren, Chairman and CEO, Wintersall and Rovnag Abdullayev, President, SOCAR.

The fourth annual gathering of its kind in the Middle East, the Abu Dhabi CEO Roundtable was held on the eve of ADIPEC, the world’s premier oil and gas conference, taking place in the UAE’s capital, from 11th-14th November.

The world’s most influential oil and gas exhibition and conference, the largest-ever Abu Dhabi Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), to open today. As a global platform for industry best-practice and innovation, ADIPEC will set the agenda for the future of the energy, oil and gas sector. Over four days, the event will welcome more than 150,000 attendees from 167 countries, including senior decision-makers and industry thought leaders.

First held in 1984, ADIPEC’s continuing success is built on constant evolution. For 2019, the highly regarded strategic conference programme is being restructured as ‘Oil and Gas 4.0’, referencing the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ and highlighting the impact of digitalisation and emerging technologies on the sector. World-renowned speakers at ‘Oil and Gas 4.0’ will include Condoleezza Rice, the former United States Secretary of State; General (Ret.) David Petraeus, Chairman of the KKR Global Institute; and Sebastian Thrun, CEO of KittyHawk and Founder of the Google X Lab.

ADIPEC’s exhibition halls will provide a showcase for 2,200 exhibiting companies exhibiting across 160,000 gross sqm of floorspace, including the waterfront Offshore and Marine Exhibition. Demonstrating the event’s international reach, exhibitors will include 35 National Oil Companies (NOCs) and 16 International Oil Companies (IOCs), a combined 12 per cent increase, along with 23 national pavilions.

“The dramatic changes we see not just in oil and gas operations, but across business and economics as a whole, mean ADIPEC is more important than ever as a global meeting point for the industry’s leading thinkers and decision makers,” said Christopher Hudson, President - dmg events, which organises ADIPEC.

Agencies