With the competing demands of power generation and petrochemicals and the relative shortage of gas in the region, unconventional gas is becoming strategically important to the MENA Region.

In view of this increasing importance, Euro Petroleum Consultants has officially announced MENA Shale 2013. This conference will take place in Abu Dhabi and will be a forum to discuss the significant opportunities and challenges associated with unconventional gas development in the MENA region.

“Just as in conventional petroleum, it’s becoming clearer that MENA countries have giant resources of shale and tight oil and gas. The region is increasingly looking to such unconventional reservoirs to meet their growing gas needs. Understanding technical challenges and sharing knowledge are key to turning these resources into reserves at competitive costs.” said Robin Mills, Head of Consulting at Manaar Energy Consulting, a Speaker at the high-level event.

The objective of MENA Shale 2013 is to outline the challenges and share best practices in relation to the development of unconventional oil and gas. There will be the opportunity to learn from the North American experience, to hear about the latest technological developments and to understand some of the issues associated with development of this industry.

Availability of low cost gas has historically been the motor for the growth of petrochemicals in the region, allowing the very rapid expansion of petrochemical giants. However the competing needs of the power generation and petrochemicals sectors will almost certainly lead to a gas price increase, eroding the competitive advantage of the petrochemical producers.

Furthermore, there is a need for gas for the power generation sector, which has seen demand growth of between 7-10% annually in recent years. "The case for unconventional gas in MENA is compelling” said Andy Gibbins, Vice President MENA at Euro Petroleum Consultants.

“Libya’s increased demand for gas to generate electricity and to operate its manufacturing plants calls upon the government to direct its future focus on the exploitation of the country’s conventional and unconventional gas resources. Libya’s proven conventional gas reserves are estimated at 43 TCF of which about 23% has been produced, but more than 300Tcf of undeveloped shale gas resources are expected from the country world-class shale source rocks”  said Mr Bashir B. Garea, Exploration Manager – NOC Libya, who will be giving a high-level presentation at MENA Shale.

The event will take place at the St Regis Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi on 10 & 11 December 2013. The conference will be held in parallel with another large-scale industry forum – OpEx 2013, which is organised by the same company and will tackle issues related to Operational Excellence in oil, gas and petrochemicals.

There will be an open floor for discussions, exchanging knowledge and experience in order to successfully face those challenges and create strategies to address the most important breakthrough in decades in terms of energy supply.

For more information visit www.mena-shale.biz

About the organiser:

Euro Petroleum Consultants is an independent consulting company in the Petroleum Industry with worldwide experience – in addition EPC ltd.  is well established as a leading producer of international oil & gas technology conferences and training seminars. Founded in 1996, EPC ltd has been helping clients in the Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals industry to achieve their project goals by providing Project Management Consulting (PMC) Services during all project phases. The company is active worldwide covering the Industry’s most important regions with offices in London, Moscow, Sofia, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai.

For further information please contact the EPC Marketing Team at: marketing@europetro.com