Fair Consultants | Press | Oil and Gas Africa Conference

OIL, GAS AND PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRIES TO CONVERGE ON CTICC FOR OIL & GAS AFRICA 2010 EXPO & CONFERENCE, WITH NOTABLE EMPHASIS ON THE RISE OF INDEPENDENT AFRICAN OIL COMPANIES IN UPSTREAM AND MIDSTREAM SECTORS – THE CONTINENT’S PREMIER OIL, GAS & PETROCHEM ENGINEERING SUPPLY CHAIN EVENT PROMISES “BIGGER, BETTER, BUSIER” FORMAT

[Cape Town, South Africa] – All sectors of the Oil, Gas, Petrochemical and related industries are set to converge on the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) between Tuesday 16 and Thursday 18 March 2010, when OIL & GAS AFRICA 2010 – the continent’s leading Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Engineering Supply Chain event – takes place daily between 10h00 and 18h00.

With key international and local plenary speakers in the line-up, the 2010 conference retains its ranking as one of the top events on the African Oil and Gas calendar and Southern Africa's leading industry interface globally. With a wide range of topics covering everything from Upstream Developments in Africa to Technical Papers on Rig & Platform Design, the mix of plenary conference, seminars, briefings and workshops is expected to attract in the region of 750 delegates from throughout the African continent.

As the fourth iteration of this event, OIL & GAS AFRICA 2010 seeks to explore the challenges faced by the sub-Saharan and African Oil & Gas markets during economically uncertain times. The previous three saw the presence of 10 000 visitors, 800 delegates and in excess of 500 exhibitors. The event comprises both a conference (16-17 March) and exhibition component (16-18 March). The exhibition, for its part, will prove of great interest for suppliers to oil refineries, petrochemical plants, oil and gas installations and pipelines.

Billed as being “Bigger, Better and Busier than ever before”, the conference and exhibition was previously known as OIL AFRICA and has been updated to emphasise the increasing role that gas production is playing in the industry.

Typically, delegates and exhibitors hail from the likes of Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Canada, China, DRC, Egypt, France, Ghana, India, Italy, Kenya, Korea, Madagascar, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Russia , South Africa, UAE, UK, USA, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Says John Thomson, Managing Director of co-organisers Exhibition Management Services: "While the continent's growing importance as a new source of Crude Oil is attracting an increasing number of Afro-centric oil industry meetings and conferences, our event, OIL & GAS AFRICA, now in its fourth edition, is still the largest and only Engineering Supply Chain exhibition. At the last event we had 3 522 visitors attending from 34 countries. With the ongoing discoveries being made on Africa's West Coast Oilfields and increasing numbers of operators working there, we expect the attendance to increase significantly at our 2010 event."

“Petroleum Agency SA has been an active participant in OIL & GAS AFRICA since its inception, both as exhibitor and sponsor,” says Dave van der Spuy, Manager Petroleum Resource Evaluation at Petroleum Agency SA, which is the South African agency for promotion of petroleum exploration and exploitation. “We are proud to announce that we will once again be exhibiting. In addition, we will be sponsoring the attendance of ten representatives of entry level HDSA owned companies, allowing them to attend at half price. This will afford them the opportunity to network with others in the industry, giving them the opportunity to publicise their capabilities, form synergies with providers of related services and make themselves known to the primary users of services: the exploration companies.”

Paul Runge, Conference Director and Managing Director of Africa Project Access, has the following to say: “This, the 4^th OIL & GAS AFRICA Expo and Conference, is of particular significance in that it will provide an opportunity to interact with African national independent oil companies from Ghana, Nigeria and elsewhere. The rise of these private African oil companies in the upstream and midstream sectors is a new and interesting phenomenon providing an important new client base for suppliers. Another important aspect is the events emphasis on modalities for financing African oil and gas projects. The keynote address by Kamal Dorabawil, oil specialist at the International Finance Corporation in Washington, is especially appropriate within this context.”

Working in conjunction with their respective South African Business Chambers and Economic Counsellors from the Department of Trade & Industry, organisers have scheduled inbound buyer / delegate groups from the various African Oil Producing countries.

In addition, industry related associations and organizations are planning various complimentary technical workshops, seminars and briefings to supplement the main conference. The African Refiners Association, for example, has scheduled their AGM and two days of Downstream Workshops for the week leading up to OIL & GAS AFRICA 2010.

Says Warwick Blyth, Executive Director, South African Oil & Gas Alliance: “We look forward to building on the solid foundation of the previous three years as we continue with the development of the Western Cape & South African Oil, Gas & Energy Industries and strengthen its international ties. We confirm our support for this initiative and look forward to meeting many new international participants and welcoming them to the Mother City of South Africa as well as those who have been working with us before and not forgetting our regionally-based colleagues, clients and suppliers.”

OIL & GAS AFRICA 2010 is sponsored by Sasol SPI (Gold sponsor) and Petroleum Agency South Africa (Bronze sponsor). The event is endorsed by Provincial Government Western Cape, City of Cape Town, the South African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA) the Western Cape Investment & Trade Promotion Agency (WESGRO), the South African Supplier Development Agency (SASDA), the South Africa – Angola Chamber of Commerce, Offshore Petroleum Association of South Africa, SA Capital Equipment Export Council, the South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA), and the Cape Town Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Media partners are as follows: African Review of Business, Oil Review Africa, Upstream, Cape Business News, Cape Business Online, What’s New in Processing, Southern African Petrochemicals, African Decisions, Africa Oil & Gas, Petroleum Africa, Mbendi, African Energy, Engineering News, Argus Media, Trade Invest Nigeria, Trade Invest SA, SA Mechanical Engineer, and Ship Shape.

Relevant associations and organizations wishing to be part of, endorse or run workshops alongside the main conference are invited to submit their requests by e-mail to either Mark Burridge ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Bette McNaughton ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Corporations and companies interested in being associated with this prestigious event are also invited to contact Mark or Bette on the above e-mails or contact them on telephone +27 21 713 3360.

The OIL & GAS AFRICA 2010 Exhibition and Conference is a joint venture between Fair Consultants SA of Cape Town and Exhibition Management Services of Johannesburg.