Abu Dhabi: Oil and gas will take centre stage in Abu Dhabi this week as it hosts its largest ever Abu Dhabi Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) with over 10,000 delegates from 167 countries set to take part.

Running until November 14 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, this year’s Adipec will feature 160 different conference sessions along with 2,200 exhibiting companies, which will include 35 national oil companies, 16 international oil companies and 23 national pavilions. In total, 150,000 visitors are expected to attend the four-day event.

“The dramatic changes we see not just in oil and gas operations, but across business and economics as a whole, mean Adipec is more important than ever as a global meeting point for the industry’s leading thinkers and decision makers,” said Christopher Hudson, president — dmg events, which organises Adipec.

“Year-by-year, Adipec has evolved to reach record numbers of attendees, exhibitors, and conference delegates. Exhibitors can source new business, thought leaders can exchange knowledge, and firms can develop the next generation of talent. Through Adipec, Abu Dhabi is unlocking new value in oil and gas,” he added.

This year’s event takes places amid the backdrop of a challenging time within the oil market, which has seen prices going down this year as a result of several different factors including the US-China trade war, demand and oversupply worries, and weak global economic forecasts.

Several of those topics are expected to be covered at Adipec, as ministers along with key decision makers within the oil and gas industry chart the sector’s future.

For the UAE, which has played host to Adipec since 1984, the event comes as the country has just revealed new oil and gas reserves in the emirate of Abu Dhabi along with discoveries of unconventional gas. The increase in the country’s hydrocarbon reserves saw the UAE’s position move up from seventh to sixth in global oil and gas reserves.

The Supreme Petroleum Council also announced that it would start price listing Adnoc’s Murban crude on a futures exchange market for the first time. The new pricing mechanism is expected to be implemented between quarters two and three of 2020.

Adnoc is expected to highlight these developments during Adipec along with its future strategy, which will see it increasing its oil production capacity to 4 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of 2020 and 5 million bpd by 2030.