CAIRO: Egypt is hosting the third edition of the North Africa Technical Conference and Exhibition (NATC) from Monday to Wednesday this week in Cairo, where petroleum professionals will meet to discuss the latest technical issues in the industry. Inaugurating the conference, titled “Managing Hydrocarbon Resources in a Changing Environment,” Egypt's Petroleum Minister Abdallah Ghorab will deliver the keynote address. Global experts will then discuss their experience and knowledge regarding the latest technical applications pertaining to the current issues within the oil and gas industry in North Africa. Through a series of panels, hundreds of global oil and gas professionals, who are investing in the “new era” of business in North Africa, are expected to attend the event in order to gain insight on the challenges currently facing the industry. The conference, organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), received over 420 technical papers submitted from 157 different companies, representing 39 participating countries. “Following previous successful SPE events in North Africa, 2012 NATC will be a focal point for all E&P professionals in the Middle East and North Africa region where they will explore the latest drilling and production innovations, discuss opportunities in unexplored oil and gas reserves and prospects for development in the Middle East and beyond,” said Waleed Refaay, managing director of SPE Middle East, North Africa and India, in a statement. Officials will also collaborate to establish innovative solutions and further opportunities within the petroleum sector, according to a statement by SPE. NATC will provide attendees with the latest solutions available to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and will also host exhibitors from the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration, Shell, ENI, Total, Sudapet, Dana Gas, Chrysler Egypt, Weatherford and Petrojet. Experts from the University of Cyprus, University of Sudan, Cairo University and Libya's NOC will discuss the industry's latest developments as well as how to manage hydrocarbon resources, the unitization and reserves assessment guidelines and procedures, field development, and well completion and optimization. Some of the panelists include Ahmed Ardeeb, CEO of Dana Gas; Hanan Amin-Salem, petroleum risk manager of PFC Energy; John Barry, vice president technical and production of MENA Shell; and Salah Wahbi, CEO of Sudapet.
