8th Edition of North Africa Oil and Gas Summit, Co-located with North Africa Unconventionals Summit

Held under the patronage of the Ministry of Industry in Tunisia, the North Africa Oil & Gas Summit co-located with the North Africa Unconventials Seminar and the North Africa Downstream Summit will take place between 21 - 24 October 2013. For the first time all three events will be held in Tunis, Tunisia and they will provide a comprehensive overview of the industry by addressing the major issues faced by the upstream and downstream oil sectors.

Currently, Africa is estimated to have a total of 132.438 billion barrels of oil, which is equivalent to 41.2 years of the current oil production in the world. The oil industry undoubtedly influences the social, political and economic success of this vast continent. Keeping in mind the importance of this industry, entities such as Ministry of Industry Tunisia and ETAP – Tunisia's National Oil Company have granted their support to all three summits. Additionally, the National Oil Company of Libya has extended its support to the North African Oil and Gas Summit as well as the North Africa Downstream Summit this year.

Elodie Huiban, Vice President Africa, The Energy Exchange commented: “The Energy Exchange is grateful for the tremendous support the Ministry of Industry Tunisia has shown in holding those three events in Tunisia under their patronage. Through the co-location of those events we ought to allow greater synergies between all the decision makers of the regional oil and gas industry and to discuss under one roof the overall  energy pillars outlined previously by Energy Ministry representatives. We look forward to ground-breaking discussions between IOCs and NOCs on the way forward within the conventional and the unconventional resources development and on the importance of investing in the improvement of the downstream sector in the region.”

With Ministry support from Tunisia, Libya and Morocco; National Oil Company (NOC) support from NOC ETAP, NOC Libya, ONHYM, SMH and Sonatrach; and international support from Shell, Repsol, OMV, Total, RWE, BG, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, DNV, Perenco, Winstar Resources, Petrofac, Ecumed Petroluem and the European Invenstment Bank amongst many others, these events will bring together decision makers from across the industry united in their vision to facilitate success in the region.

Furthermore, with more and more attention turning to North Africa as a potential source of unconventional resources, this year the North Africa Oil and Gas Summit will have an Unconventionals Seminar especially dedicated to this topic. This seminar will discuss and analyze in detail, the steps required to build a practical, safe, and universally beneficial shale oil and gas development plan in the North African region, making sure that the margin or risks are minimised.

Day one of the North Africa Oil and Gas Summit will commence in conjunction with the Unconventionals Seminar and will see the Chief Energy Adviser from SHELL reviewing the macro-economic opportunities within the oil and gas industry, followed distinguished panel of keynote speakers from energy ministries and CEO's of NOCs outlining the energy strategy employed in each of the North African country. In addition, a panel discussion comparing and contrasting the common objectives of each state will also be held, to determine the key to future success and suggest optimal ways to create strong ties with future partners.

Beginning together - the North Africa Oil and Gas Summit will highlight the current situation of the region in terms of availability of manpower resources, as well as security issues impacting investments from oil and gas companies; while the Unconventionals seminar will focus, in parallel, on topics such as the global developments in shale gas explorations, how to build a foundation for the shale boom, how to unlock its potential in North Africa, and how to create a regulatory environment for investors, communities and the government.

Day two of the North Africa Oil and Gas Summit will move on to forging successful business partnerships to tackle the various energy challenges and will feature country roundtables - each of which will be led by the country's NOC or government representative - providing an opportunity to further explore the specific challenges faced by each country. Whilst the Unconventionals seminar will cover topics including: the technical foundation available and required in the future; understanding, mapping and de-risking unconventional resources; optimizing drilling and completions; and environmental concerns.

Day three, will start with a panel discussion illustrating the key findings from the Unconventionals Seminar and will continue to provide solutions and different approaches to address topics concerning mature field developments, and ways to unlock the deepwater offshore in North Africa.

To be attended by some of the major technology companies, national and international oil companies, Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors as well as financing companies, the North Africa Downstream Summit - an event organized by the World Refining Association for the first time - is set to be one of the most influential gathering of the downstream industry. The downstream sector in the industry deals with refining and processing of crude oil as well as the marketing and distribution of these products down to the retail level.

The need to create this unique business platform by means of holding a summit was realised last year during the seventh edition of North Africa Oil & Gas Summit when the North African governments collectively stressed on the importance of investing in the improvement of the downstream sector.

The aim of the summit is to the bring together operating companies within the industry so that they can demonstrate their future plans, share the viability of their projects, network with partners and secure technology that will help them deliver their projects successfully.

With such varied and comprehensive topics, these three events will not only provide an opportunity for decision makers and investors across the industry to come together and network, but also help them addresses the challenges faced, and find viable solutions to tap into the potential of the North African region.