A delegation representing the 20th World Petroleum Congress (20th WPC) Organising Committee attended the 17th Society of Petroleum Engineers Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MEOS 2011) in Bahrain held in the last week of September.

The conference and exhibition was inaugurated by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who visited the Qatar Petroleum and 20th World Petroleum Congress stand where he was given a special gift by the delegation from Qatar.

On the sidelines of MEOS, Mr. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Rashid, Head of the 20th WPC Media Team, said: “With nine weeks to go before the official opening of the 20th WPC, MEOS was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate Qatar's progress in the organization of the Congress. We are pleased to confirm that in addition to productive meetings with many exhibitor delegations, we received over 1,000 visitors at our stand who were also briefed on the progress of our preparations.”

To date, over 3,300 delegates have already registered for the 20th WPC whilst the exhibition has been sold out for several months. The sponsorship program is now also closed.

MEOS was a great opportunity for the State of Qatar to showcase the 20th World Petroleum Congress programme. MEOS was attended by 800 congress delegates, 150 exhibitors and over 3,000 visitors. Principal exhibitors included all six GCC national oil and gas companies -- Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, BAPCO, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Petroleum Development Oman and Qatar Petroleum -- who were exhibiting alongside some of the world's top energy and service brands. National groups from North America and the UK, and numerous smaller independent specialist suppliers and distributors from across the globe completed this lineup.

It was an ideal opportunity for the State of Qatar to engage with a number of exhibitors and sponsors of the 20th WPC who were also attending MEOS. During the event, meetings were held with companies such as Aramco, KPC, BAPCO, and ADNOC to discuss the progress of their preparations for the 20th WPC. The organising committee highlighted opportunities during the WPC that will benefit WPC member country delegations, national oil companies and the international oil companies as well as allied business leaders.

The theme of the 20th WPC is “Energy Solutions for All - Promoting Cooperation, Innovation and Investment” and the Congress Programme Committee have designed a programme with best practice keynote presentations, technical sessions and expert round tables to cover the width and breadth of the issues that drive and impact the oil and gas industry.

It is being hosted at the brand New Qatar National Convention Centre from 4-8 December 2011. Over five days in December, Qatar will welcome around 5000 delegates, including 500 speakers and panel constituents, more than 50 ministers of various member countries, around 500 chief executives representing energy companies and allied businesses, and hundreds of journalists from across the world.

The Plenary Sessions of the 20th WPC will gather some of the most prestigious and influential industry leaders from around the world. Following the opening plenary with six oil and gas ministers from the Middle East, ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson and Shell’s CEO Peter Voser will be joining Qatar's Minister of Energy and Industry, H.E. Mohammed Saleh Al-Sada in a high-level presentation of Qatar’s role in the future energy landscape.

In addition to over 5000 delegates expected to arrive in Doha this December, the exhibition accompanying the 20th WPC will cover 35,000 square metres, surpassing the previous WPC event in Madrid in 2008 by 20%, making it the largest WPC exhibition in history.

Early registration is encouraged to confirm a place at 20th WPC. Delegates have the convenience of registering online and using their credit card to pay and will be able to manage all their communication with the organisers online. Online arrangements are also available for group organisers to assist worldwide group delegations.

Tags: World Petroleum Congress