A total of AED33 billion (US$9b) of business deals were signed during ADIPEC 2016, a fact which corroborates the global event's significant role in diversifying the UAE economy by generating job opportunities and driving socio-economic development, Ali Khalifa Al Shamsi, CEO of Al Yasat Petroleum Operations Company and ADIPEC 2017 Chairman, told Emirates News Agency, WAM.

"ADIPEC attracts business to Abu Dhabi and the UAE, and to the broader Gulf region and Middle East. An event of this scale and importance contributes to the UAE’s future as a strategic economic centre, and as an international crossroads for global trade, where east, west, north and south all meet," Al Shamsi stressed.

ADIPEC offers petroleum industry - business leaders and technical experts – the people who guide the future of the industry – a shared platform that contributes to the growth and development of their business. This in turn establishes Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a global energy hub, and by extension, as a global hub for other business, and for trade and finance across many sectors."

"New for ADIPEC 2017 will be a conference programme and exhibition space for the downstream industry. This is part of our objective to create the most comprehensive petroleum industry event for senior decision makers and high-level professionals, and follows the successful introduction of the specialised Security in Energy programme and Offshore and Marine zone in recent editions. We are also adding more Global Business Leader sessions to the strategic conference programme, ensuring ADIPEC is an industry global knowledge exchange hub, at both strategic and technical levels," he elaborated.

On what has prompted ADIPEC to include the downstream sector this time, Al Shamsi said, "It is part of our objective to offer a complete and comprehensive programme of opportunities for senior petroleum industry decision makers and skilled professionals. It follows successful previous additions to the event, such as the dedicated security and offshore programmes.

"Downstream industries are an increasingly important strategic focus for ADIPEC’s major NOC and IOC partners, many of which are expanding their activities across the full value chain from exploration and production, through various forms of refining and processing, to marketing the final product. ADIPEC recognises this and is committed to supporting strategic investments and enabling new partnerships across the full value chain," ADIPEC Chairman added.

On why "Forging Ties, Driving Growth" has been chosen as the theme for ADIPEC 2017, Al Shamsi said "The theme represents the spirit of partnership and opportunity that is the foundation of ADIPEC. It underlines ADIPEC’s status as a platform for creating new business opportunities and for sharing knowledge, experience and ideas that will drive future development of the oil and gas industry." He added that the theme also represents the importance of ADIPEC as a global hub for oil and gas, where the industry’s most powerful decision makers meet, and where the discussions held, both in public forums and in personal conversations, will have a direct impact on the strategic direction of many of the leading NOCs and IOCs.

Asked about the main challenges and opportunities in the Middle East’s oil and gas industry in general, and the UAE in particular, ADIPEC Chairman said, "We continue to experience prices that are at a much lower level than in the years prior to 2014, but we have seen modest increases and stability in the past year, and looking ahead we expect rising demand will support further price recovery. The oil and gas industry is adapting to meet its challenges. In the past three years, our industry has achieved greater efficiencies, optimized costs and utilised resources more effectively. As a result, companies are returning to a more expansionary investment position. Future investments will be smart, will emphasise efficiency, and they will prioritise diversification and vertical integration. This can be seen in the pivot towards downstream investments by many NOCs, as they aim to create value from their resources at each stage of the value chain."