Top energy industry officials and executives will gather at the 4th Gulf Intelligence Energy Markets Forum in Fujairah on Sept. 23 to debate and exchange knowledge on the transformation occurring in world oil and gas markets amid a period of rapid and unrelenting change triggered by North America's shale boom, sustained global energy demand growth and recent geopolitical instability.
The energy meeting will be held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, under the theme '' Energy Paradigm Shifting - Sector in Transformation.'' After three years of Brent crude prices almost continuously above the $100-a-barrel mark, the industry is acknowledging that $100 oil has become the new $20, a price that's needed to make the costly development of hydrocarbons from harder-to-access and more remote reserves commercially viable, organisers say in a press release. At the same time, a myriad of complex geopolitical developments is potentially threatening the stability and status quo of world energy markets, presenting sector stakeholders with unique challenges and unpredictable consequences.
U.A.E. Minister of Energy Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Azerbaijan's Minister for Industry & Energy Natig Aliyev, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla El-Badri, and Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli will participate in the Gulf Intelligence Energy Markets Forum, which will be held for the first time in the emirate of Fujairah under the theme 'Energy Paradigm Shifting - Sector in Transformation'.
As the sector is seeking to adapt to the internal and external changes that continue to resonate around the world, new energy corridors are emerging, alternative trade routes are being explored and alternative pricing mechanisms for oil, gas and refined products are being developed, in turn providing opportunities for existing and new industry players and hubs such as Fujairah.
"We are delighted that the Energy Markets Forum will take place in the United Arab Emirates in the emirate of Fujairah this year and we look forward to welcoming a multitude of distinguished speakers and delegates to address some of the energy industry's most critical issues of the time," said H.H. Sheikh Saleh bin Mohammed Al-Sharqi, Chairman of the Department of Industry and Economy in Fujairah, and Chairman of the Board of Port of Fujairah. "Hosting this year's event in Fujairah is not only a reflection of the emirate's role as one leading global bunkering center but also of its status as an emerging energy hub that is well positioned to benefit from the transformational forces shaping the sector today and in the years to come." The Government of Fujairah is the Title Partner of the 4th Energy Markets Forum, while energy information provider Platts and energy and commodity trading company Vitol Group are the event's Premier Partners.
The forum takes place at a time when fragile geopolitics are playing out in various forms in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, in turn triggering a paradigm shift towards energy security that will greatly impact the sector's future direction - and that of refiners, marketers, traders and shippers, representatives of which will partake in the forum.
In the Middle East, political instability in oil-producing countries such as Iraq and Libya are threatening present production and future output targets with potentially severe implications for global energy markets. For Asian consumers such as China, Japan and South Korea that import the bulk of their energy from the Middle East, these developments present a major concern.
In Europe, tensions between the EU and its main gas supplier, Russia, over Ukraine's political future have propelled the issue of energy security to the very top of governments' agendas, which may feel compelled to boost imports from countries such as Algeria or Qatar--and soon the US--to speed up diversification of their natural gas supplies. Iran too may have a role to play in Europe's--and Asia's--diversification plans if the Islamic republic's rapprochement with its neighbors in the region and the West comes to a positive conclusion.