The 2018 edition of the World Heavy Oil Congress & Exhibition (WHOC) will be held in Muscat from 3-5 September 2018, attracting more than 500 delegates from 40 countries
Co-hosted with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and supported by the Ministry of Oil & Gas, the annual Congress will address challenges and discuss opportunities across the heavy oil value chain through a two-day strategic conference, a three-day technical conference and a three-day international exhibition.
Jean-Philippe Cossé, vice-president for the Middle East at DMG events, the organiser of WHOC, said, “We are both proud and excited to be hosting the 2018 edition of the Congress in the Middle East for the very first time, which is home to one third of the world’s heavy and extra heavy oil resources. It will act as an invaluable platform for the global heavy oil industry to gather and learn from each other.”
He added, “The sultanate enjoys high quantity petroleum production, a competitive infrastructure with global standards, and has future development plans to positively impact the country’s production. This, coupled with unrivaled hospitality, promises to make this year’s congress and exhibition a memorable one.”
The technical conference will encourage greater knowledge exchange and networking where attendees can expect to gain knowledge of upstream, midstream and downstream heavy oil projects, new technologies and services through over 80 technical case studies and presentations from across the globe.
Petroleum engineering function director at PDO and co-chairman of World Heavy Oil Congress & Exhibition 2018, Dr Ali Al Gheithy, noted, “Oman is already exploiting a lot of its heavy oil resources and this trend will continue and expand in the future. Oman has ongoing full field developments of heavy oil using both thermal and chemical (polymer flood) processes – this is a significant part of Oman’s daily production. So, we have several areas of our experiences to share as well as learn from all our visitors who will be attending.”
WHOC will also host an international exhibition where regional and international NOCs, IOCs, service and technology providers will showcase the best technologies, products, and services for the heavy oil sector.
Some of the confirmed exhibitors include PDO, ENI SPA, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), Kitsnet, Badr EOR, Albpetrol, RGL Reservoir Management Ltd, SoluForce, HP Well Screen and Salamander.
