Press releases
Collaboration, Partnership, and Transformation
The Caspian oil and gas industry goes through major change, as region’s technical oil and gas conference goes online
London (23 October 2020) – The largest Caspian oil and gas event came to a close today after going online for the first time in its history.
The Caspian oil and gas industry has demonstrated resilience to overcoming low oil prices, the COVID-19 crisis and technological challenges by transforming them into sustainable opportunities. The special focus of the CTC this year was on disseminating the existing, emerging, and future social, economic and educational needs for the oil and gas sector.
In the opening ceremony Zhakyp Marabayev, Chief Exploration and Production officer from KMG, stated: “The pandemic COVID-19 has affected just about every country in the world. In this environment our focus should be on finding the right solutions and strategies that would enable companies to effectively operate under pandemic conditions and demonstrate sustainable growth in the post crisis period. That is why it is critical to hold forums like SPE, where we should, and we need to brainstorm the issues relevant to our industry in our fast changing world”.
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Magzum Mirzagaliev, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources, emphasised the importance of Kazakhstan’s plans to completely introduce international reporting standards by 2024. He explains: “We are currently developing the National Bank of Mineral Resources, which is an information system that will provide full access to obtain geological information of our country. The system will allow consolidating geological reports, mineral reserve reports and field passport data in order to explore exploration territory and other geological information in a unified database”.
The Caspian Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Social Responsibility Symposium also took place during this year’s Conference, where speakers evaluated safety culture among the Caspian oil & gas sector and discussed the system of multiple defenses that an organisation makes and maintains to protect employees and enhance HSE performance.
Kairat Saktaganov, HSE Director from KMG stated: “we are aware of our impact on economical growth and we are responsible for the implementation of our HSE programmes minimising our impact to the environment. I hope this symposium will help us bring together experience, expertise and innovation sharing to raise the level of HSE in every region. Moreover, I’m convinced that the symposium will meet the expectations of each participant and everyone will gain not only new ideas and knowledge but also new networks that will be valuable in our work”.
Olav Skar, Safety Director of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) also explains: “In my assessment, our industry has had much insight into this topic but we have not yet changed many conversations at our work site. This is not through lack of willingness but it comes back to the cultural aspects covered in last year’s Symposium. It needs to be about efficiency, delivery and safe outcomes. We need to accept that it is not about changing people but about changing the context in which people work that will deliver the progress we want.”
Over two days attendees heard from high-profile speakers and panelists and enjoyed a packed technical programme. The numerous panel and technical sessions examined Kazakhstan’s long-term technology development strategy, regional technological challenges in oil and gas transportation, local capacity-building and technological innovation and collaboration.
There were networking opportunities via the virtual platform and an exhibitor area showcasing the latest technologies and products.
The event had the support of a range of leading oil and gas players in the Caspian region, including the host KMG, the Ministries of Energy and Ecology, Geology and Natural resources and KAZENERGY. The official sponsors include NCOC, TCO, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Schlumberger, Total, DeGolyer & MacNaughton, Shell, Baker Hughes and Tachyus.
Please see below for contact details of our media team.
About SPE
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a not-for-profit professional association whose members are engaged in energy resources development and production. SPE serves more than 153,000 members in 143 countries worldwide. SPE is a key resource for technical knowledge related to the oil and gas exploration and production industry and provides services through its publications and online resources at www.spe.org.
Media Contacts
Aliya Boranbayeva
E-mail: aliyabo@gmail.com
Katie Dunn, Marketing Manager
E-mail: kdunn@spe.org