Dubai: Energy ministers and top executives from the oil and gas industry will gather in the UAE capital from Monday, for the four-day annual Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec).
Changing dynamics in the industry are expected to be highlighted at Adipec this week, alongside other factors such as shifts in economic powers, renewable energy, and technological innovation in the energy sector.
Among the top speakers at this year’s event will be Suhail Al Mazroui, UAE’s Minister of Energy and Industry, who will lead a discussion at Adipec with Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence.
Meanwhile, Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, UAE Minister of state and group CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) will deliver a speech at the conference’s opening ceremony. He will be at a signing ceremony later in the day at Adipec with Amin Al Nasser, president and chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco.
Adnoc’s Al Jaber is expected to discuss some of the company’s latest strategy and its outlook going forward. Adnoc recently announced Dh486 billion in capital expenditure into its capacity in oil, gas, refined products, and petrochemicals.
The company will be announcing new partnerships at Adipec as it accelerates delivery of its 2030 strategy and looks into ways to deliver value for Abu Dhabi’s economy through attracting more investments.
Other speakers at the event include Khalid Al Falih, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources; Alexander Novak, Russia’s Minister of Energy; Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Mohammed Barkindo, Secretary General of Opec.
Adipec will run from November 12-15 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. It is set to welcome over 2,200 exhibiting companies, an increase of 8 per cent compared with last year. These companies include 42 major national and international oil companies, up 23 per cent over 2017.
Oil worries
The conference will come just a day after a meeting of ministers from Opec (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and Russia in Abu Dhabi, and as crude oil prices sink into bear territory (dropping over 20 per cent from their highs).
The decline in oil prices is amid record production from the US as well as sanction exemptions granted to eight countries to continue importing oil from Iran. Brent oil prices were trading at just over $70 a barrel on Friday, down from their October peak of $86.3.
In a report last week, the Institute of International Finance said Brent oil prices could drop below $70 due to oversupply in the market. This was after the US Energy Information Administration raised its crude output forecast for America for 2019 by 300,000 barrels a day to over 12 million barrels a day while cutting global demand growth.
Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said in a note he maintained a view that crude oil “eventually will settle into a $70 to $80 a barrel range.”
“Opec and Russia may use cuts to support $70 a barrel while the US administration could potentially use some flexibility on its waivers (to countries importing from Iran) to prevent the price from breaking above $80,” he said.
Hansen added that the selling activity in the market may require more than just verbal intervention from Opec, adding that in the short term, the risk is for the market to overshoot to the downside.
