The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) held its first workshop in Basra, Iraq last month and attracted more than 180 attendees from over 50 regional and international companies. The workshop was held over two days and was titled Iraq Field Development Experiences. This was a successful follow-up to the first meeting held last in Istanbul, Turkey in 2011.
Waleed Refaay, Managing Director at SPE Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, said "SPE's mission is to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge concerning the exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources, and related technologies for the public benefit; and to provide opportunities for professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence."
"In support of our mission, this will be the first international society led event in Iraq and SPE is proud to lead the effort of attracting international expertise to help the country in building human capabilities and advancing oil and gas technologies," continued Refaay.
The opening address was delivered by Abdul Mahdy Al-Ameedi, Workshop Chairman and Director General at the Ministry of Oil in Iraq followed by a keynote speech by Thamir Abbas Al Ghadhban, Chairman of the Advisory Commission to the Iraqi Prime Minister.
"I see the SPE meeting in Basrah as a very good way to contribute to this much needed capacity building effort and promoting new technology. This interaction between Iraqi and international expertise in the oil and gas sector epitomises this endeavour," said Ghadhban.
Ihsan Al-Attar, Project Management Expert at the Ministry of Oil in Iraq, delivered the keynote speech on the second day and spoke about how implementing service contracts by international oil companies have had positive economic, social, and environmental impacts on the local communities.
The technical agenda was set by a 20-member committee, representing arrange of national and international oil companies, and service operators including Iraq Ministry of Oil, Baker Hughes, BP, Delta Hydrocarbons Corporation, Eni, ExxonMobil, Gaffney, Cline & Associates, Habboush Group, Kuwait Energy, Lukoil, Petrofac, PETRONAS, Petronor, Schlumberger, Shell, Total, and University of Technology in Iraq.
Discussion topics covered the successful execution of projects in Iraq along with its challenges and opportunities; reservoir characterisation case studies; production optimisation; water sourcing and management; Iraq gas utilisation and gas flaring reduction initiatives; new and applicable technologies for Iraqi fields.
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About Society of Petroleum Engineers
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a not-for-profit professional association whose members are engaged in energy resources development and production. SPE serves more than 110,000 members in 141 countries worldwide. SPE is a key resource for technical knowledge related to the oil and gas exploration and production industry and provides services through its publications, events, training courses, and online resources at www.spe.org.
SPE is a not-for-profit organisation. Income from this event will be invested back into SPE to support many other Society programs. When you attend an SPE event, you help provide even more opportunities for industry professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence. Scholarships, certification, the Distinguished Lecturer program, and SPE's energy education program Energy4me are just a few examples of programs that are supported by SPE.
© Press Release 2014
