MIDDLE East Work Boats & Offshore Marine 2013 – the region’s leading event for workboat operators, builders and equipment suppliers – marks its return to the Abu Dhabi exhibition arena from September 30 to October 2 with a special in-depth examination of Africa, the Caspian and an extended focus on the offshore marine operations sector.

The biannual three-day exhibition and conference, which takes place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), will open with a high-profile panel-led comprehensive industry outlook through to 2020, encompassing activity and opportunity across the Middle East, Africa and Caspian Sea. 

“As international trade links and the region’s rapidly developing maritime infrastructure open up global connectivity, the pressure is on the industry – from ship owners to offshore support vessel (OSV) operators – to navigate the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment in order to capitalise on new market opportunities and fine tune operational efficiency,” said Chris Hayman, chairman, Seatrade, organiser of the newly rebranded Middle East Workboats & Offshore Marine 2013.

The deep-water frontiers in West Africa, which up until 10 years ago were at the centre of Africa’s oil exploration rush, have not made any significant finds outside of Angola and Ghana during the last five years.

The current offshore growth potential in Africa is centred on significant deepwater gas discoveries on the east coast, geographically much closer to Middle East-based offshore operators. Countries such as Tanzania and in particular Mozambique are already being slated as major producers of LNG and set to challenge even the biggest producers such as Australia. The northern part of the Rovuma offshore basin rim towards Kenya is also thought to contain significant amounts of oil. 

According to figures compiled by major global oil and gas services supplier Baker Hughes, the offshore rig count in Africa represents more than 9 per cent of the worldwide total of approximately 369 (the Middle East accounts for over 11 per cent).

New sessions for 2013 include the Regional Power Hour series, an interactive educational experience that brings together industry experts with decades’ of Middle East experience for a panel discussion aimed at specific market challenges and complexities for companies looking to invest in the region, whether it be operators seeking new clients, yards looking to establish themselves in new regions, or suppliers targeting new markets starting with the vast African continent.

“Africa is very much on the maritime radar of opportunity, and comes with its own unique challenges, especially in hydrocarbon-rich areas where a lack of skilled labour, security issues and steep fines for non-compliance are the harsh reality for new market entrants unfamiliar with the region,” said Hayman.

Confirmed panelists including Ify Anazonwu-Akerele, director general, Nigerian Chamber of Shipping; Ian Hugo, managing director Nigeria, Smit Lamnalco; and Anco Scholte ter Horst, owner, Workshipsafrica, will address key concerns for African operations and answer audience questions in a hard-hitting 60-minute session.

With sizeable offshore hydrocarbon reserves attracting more and more large investments from global oil majors, the Africa focus will examine upstream oil and gas: local content in West Africa, the relevance of hiring African crew for local projects, finance accessibility and specific operational issues in Nigeria.

This year’s event line-up also includes the inaugural Global Workboats Technology Forum, in strategic partnership with Saudi Aramco, on October 1 during which international experts will present a series of technical papers on industry agenda-leading topics, with Dynamic Positioning (DP) capability and systems development dominating the final day’s debate on October 2.

Middle East Work Boats & Offshore Marine 2013 has already signed up over 165 exhibitors for this year’s event.