27 February 2013
Communications firm Gulf Intelligence will co-host the fourth Doha Energy Forum with Maersk Oil Qatar at Texas A&M University at Qatar from March 5.
The event will be held under the patronage of HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, minister of energy and industry and CMD of Qatar Petroleum.
The two-day forum will explore how the global energy industry is adapting to a series of game-changers, including the so-called US shale revolution and the rise of independent energy companies, which could trigger the biggest transformation in the energy landscape since $10 oil in the 1990s.
"Qatar is an important global energy hub and the Doha Energy Forum provides an excellent opportunity for industry representatives to discuss changes and developments in the local and global energy environment," said Sheikh Faisal al-Thani, deputy managing director of Maersk Oil Qatar, which currently accounts for around one-third of Qatar's daily oil production. "Maersk Oil is a long-term partner of QP and the State of Qatar and is, therefore, pleased to encourage ongoing dialogue between industry peers to help share knowledge and ideas."
Giving an insight into the discussions ahead of the forum, Sean Evers, managing partner at Gulf Intelligence, said: "In the wake of $100 oil in recent years, we are witnessing a new transformation in the energy industry, less defined perhaps than the takeovers of the 1990s but potentially as dramatic.
Supermajors are slimming down, independents are joining forces and pioneering exploration, service companies are taking on IOC (international oil company) activities, NOCs (national oil companies) are becoming IOCs and the development of shale oil and gas has become a global conversation."
Today, many NOCs, especially from Asia, are expanding beyond their national boundaries and competing for assets overseas - the arrival of China National Petroleum Corporation and Korea National Oil Corporation into the Gulf's upstream energy sector are two good examples.
If NOCs present a challenge from above to the world's largest publicly traded energy companies, known as supermajors, independent energy companies may challenge their space from below, industry leaders say.
"Independents will make an ever bigger impact - with prices high, they can attract capital and have a natural propensity for risk and ability to move quickly. This means they will remain the supermajors' biggest competitors for new access and new exploration opportunity," said Dr Tony Hayward, CEO of Genel Energy and former CEO of BP.
In 2000, shale gas represented only 1% of American natural gas supplies; today, it is 30% and rising. The scale of shale oil could be even greater than gas, with some forecasts claiming that there are eight barrels of crude locked in shale rock for each barrel of conventional oil.
The International Energy Agency's most recent World Energy Outlook predicted that the US will lead the world in both oil and natural gas production by the end of the decade, overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia.
William Weld, a former two-time governor of Massachusetts who was also a senior energy adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, will deliver a keynote speech at the Doha Energy Forum. It will be titled "US Energy Independence - Could it change the world as we know it?"
"I do think it's fair to say that the US could well be a net exporter of energy by as soon as 2020 or 2025. It may not be LNG, liquefied natural gas, as some people are predicting, there are logistics issues there. But I think overall we should be a net exporter," said Weld. "The prospect of US energy independence is compelling many to ask questions such as 'will the US Fifth Fleet turn tail and steam out of Bahrain and head right back to the Gulf of Mexico, or perhaps east to Japan?'. And the answer is: nah, it's not going to happen."
ExxonMobil Qatar and Qatar Shell will lead a broad range of international companies attending the forum, alongside their counterparts from QP and their joint-venture companies.
Communications firm Gulf Intelligence will co-host the fourth Doha Energy Forum with Maersk Oil Qatar at Texas A&M University at Qatar from March 5.
The event will be held under the patronage of HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, minister of energy and industry and CMD of Qatar Petroleum.
The two-day forum will explore how the global energy industry is adapting to a series of game-changers, including the so-called US shale revolution and the rise of independent energy companies, which could trigger the biggest transformation in the energy landscape since $10 oil in the 1990s.
"Qatar is an important global energy hub and the Doha Energy Forum provides an excellent opportunity for industry representatives to discuss changes and developments in the local and global energy environment," said Sheikh Faisal al-Thani, deputy managing director of Maersk Oil Qatar, which currently accounts for around one-third of Qatar's daily oil production. "Maersk Oil is a long-term partner of QP and the State of Qatar and is, therefore, pleased to encourage ongoing dialogue between industry peers to help share knowledge and ideas."
Giving an insight into the discussions ahead of the forum, Sean Evers, managing partner at Gulf Intelligence, said: "In the wake of $100 oil in recent years, we are witnessing a new transformation in the energy industry, less defined perhaps than the takeovers of the 1990s but potentially as dramatic.
Supermajors are slimming down, independents are joining forces and pioneering exploration, service companies are taking on IOC (international oil company) activities, NOCs (national oil companies) are becoming IOCs and the development of shale oil and gas has become a global conversation."
Today, many NOCs, especially from Asia, are expanding beyond their national boundaries and competing for assets overseas - the arrival of China National Petroleum Corporation and Korea National Oil Corporation into the Gulf's upstream energy sector are two good examples.
If NOCs present a challenge from above to the world's largest publicly traded energy companies, known as supermajors, independent energy companies may challenge their space from below, industry leaders say.
"Independents will make an ever bigger impact - with prices high, they can attract capital and have a natural propensity for risk and ability to move quickly. This means they will remain the supermajors' biggest competitors for new access and new exploration opportunity," said Dr Tony Hayward, CEO of Genel Energy and former CEO of BP.
In 2000, shale gas represented only 1% of American natural gas supplies; today, it is 30% and rising. The scale of shale oil could be even greater than gas, with some forecasts claiming that there are eight barrels of crude locked in shale rock for each barrel of conventional oil.
The International Energy Agency's most recent World Energy Outlook predicted that the US will lead the world in both oil and natural gas production by the end of the decade, overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia.
William Weld, a former two-time governor of Massachusetts who was also a senior energy adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, will deliver a keynote speech at the Doha Energy Forum. It will be titled "US Energy Independence - Could it change the world as we know it?"
"I do think it's fair to say that the US could well be a net exporter of energy by as soon as 2020 or 2025. It may not be LNG, liquefied natural gas, as some people are predicting, there are logistics issues there. But I think overall we should be a net exporter," said Weld. "The prospect of US energy independence is compelling many to ask questions such as 'will the US Fifth Fleet turn tail and steam out of Bahrain and head right back to the Gulf of Mexico, or perhaps east to Japan?'. And the answer is: nah, it's not going to happen."
ExxonMobil Qatar and Qatar Shell will lead a broad range of international companies attending the forum, alongside their counterparts from QP and their joint-venture companies.
© Gulf Times 2013
