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in Algeria. He expected oil prices to stabilize
soon at levels that serve the interests of both
producers and consumers.
The Minister said that the current round’s
slogan
“Together for Industry, Government,
and Education Excellence”
has the support
of the whole sector since the region needs
more cooperation, adopting best practice in
the downstream industry, and working on
transferring technology to achieve highest
performance and growth rates.
He pointed out that in spite of the declining
crude oil prices; the refining industry
has introduced unprecedented expansion
opportunities and growing profits. HE Al
Khalifa stressed that there are a number of
integrated mega projects in the region, where
investment cycle takes no less than 10 years.
He called for exploring other capital markets
instead of relying fully on regional banks.
He underlined that investing in the private
sector or partnerships between the public and
private sectors were good funding options
for new refining projects. The Minister then
presented the most important investment
projects under execution in Bahrain to develop
the petroleum industry.
This was followed by an inaugural speech
by Mr Bakheet Al Rashidi, Chairman of
Middle East Petrotech and President and
CEO of Kuwait Petroleum International. He
stressed the important role of the conference in
exchanging expertise and being informed about
the most recent technologies and strategies that
contribute to the development of the petroleum
industry. He pointed out that the conference
includes 21 technical sessions, 3 of which
are key sessions, while others would be held
in parallel, in which more than 100 technical
papers will be presented by distinguished
experts. The papers discuss the following:
•
Operational excellence in refining and pet-
rochemicals
•
Production units integration, reliability, and
technologies
•
Best practices in downstream industries
•
Energy management techniques and pro-
duction development
•
Health, safety, and environment protection
•
Smart industrial facilities and their role
in improving down-
stream industries
A
pre-conference
forum was held to discuss
vital roles of industry,
government and education
through
3
sessions
by experts, including