Tuesday 19 / November / 2024
Muscat: Some of the exhibitors at the Oil and Gas West Asia (OGWA) Exhibition, currently on at the Oman International Exhibition Centre, said the dip in the oil prices and the lack of gas is affecting their business and projects.
According to Findlay Beveridge of Hydratron, a supplier of high pressure equipment, the global market of oil and gas is not on a good track.
“Many companies in the supply and manufacturing sector are down by 30 to 50 per cent from where they were two years ago and are experiencing a lot of cutbacks,” Beveridge told ther Times of Oman.
Speaking about how they his company is planning to overcome this crisis, he said, “This has forced us to develop new products that can be used in the aerospace sector.”
“With the current decline in oil prices, it has become even more important for oil companies to look at ways of reducing production costs,” an official commented.
According to another attendee, Oman is the first to take advantage of solar energy to replace traditional fuel resources to generate steam for enhanced oil recovery.
“By using solar, gas saved can be directed towards higher value applications to stimulate Oman’s economy and this will have a lasting impact on growth,” he said.
Some hoped that the misery will change soon and that oil prices will return to the early stage because demand is always there from countries, such as China and India.
According to Paulo Morgado from Suncnim, a company from France said the dullness in the market may slow down their projects.
“It may delay our projects, but we find that people are thinking of a long term process, especially people in the Middle East,” Morgado said.
“This is a short term impact so the effect will not go on for long,” he added.
Major exhibitors at the expo include PDO, BP Oman, Oman Gas Company, Oman LNG, Oman Oil Company, Daleel Petroleum, Schlumberger, Shell Development Oman, Vanguard Engineering and Oilfield Services, Seven Seas Petroleum, SASOL, Delta Corporation, Huwaei Technologies, CC Energy Development, OXY, Port of Duqm, Glass Point Solar and Dover Oil Lift.
Mohammad Al Zubair, advisor to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, for Economic Planning Affairs, formally opened the 10th international edition of the OGWA Exhibition at the Oman International Exhibition Centre on Monday.
The exhibition, which is being held under the aegis of the Ministry of Oil and Gas and is supported by Petroleum Development Oman and OPAL, features about 300 companies from 16 countries and the largest China and Iran pavilions so far for any exhibition in Oman.
There are also SMEs and ICV pavilions created in support of the Oman government’s initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and local talent, a first for OGWA.
According to the officials of Oman Expo, OGWA has maintained its growth, with a 10 per cent increase in the number of participating companies, mostly international, from the last edition.
OGWA will continue till March 23 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre, alongside the SPE EOR Conference at the Golden Tulip Hotel Seeb.
The exhibition hours are from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm.
