FOLLOWING a very successful oil & gas roadshow with the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce in May, my colleagues there kindly invited me to Abu Dhabi to experience ADIPEC, the world’s “most important oil and gas exhibition and conference”.
Having attended Offshore Europe and ONS, I was expecting ADIPEC to be somewhat similar; with the exception of the weather.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The exhibition and conference is held at ADNEC, the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre in the heart of the city, a spectacular and modern venue.
There seemed to be an astronomical number of exhibitors from global businesses; from the largest operators to sole traders and, of course, a contingency from Scotland.
The exhibition was well laid out so it was easy for me to find our member companies and to meet with other businesses in the UK for which Abu Dhabi is a key market.
And there were a lot of them.
Some of the stands were simply spectacular and very creative.
Some of the new technologies on show were mind-boggling but most impressive of all was the amount of business being done.
With tens of thousands of visitors, that might not be surprising but with the difficulty faced by the oil & gas industry globally, it was both reassuring and a delight to see.
With a 31-year history in the marketplace, ADIPEC delivers an unrivaled audience of oil and gas professionals with real buying power, enabling more than US$9.76billion of business to be conducted onsite at the event.
At the heart of global oil and gas reserves, ADIPEC's 130,000 square metres show floor is one of the world's biggest oil and gas technology exhibitions.
ADIPEC's history is steeped in long lasting relationships.
From NOCs and IOCs, established service companies to government bodies, global associations and distributors, ADIPEC unlocks a world of opportunity.
Ranging from international pavilions to multinationals, ADIPEC seeks to deliver the ultimate business setting to succeed in today's competitive marketplace.
I had the pleasure of an audience with His Excellency Mohammed Thani Murshid Al-Rumaithi just before the conference opened, along with some other members of the board of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and it was wonderful to see them again in their Arabic splendor and their hospitality was second to none.
We had a lengthy conversation about the oil & gas industry in Abu Dhabi and, as a result, we’ve agreed that there’s scope for a trade mission from Scotland to Abu Dhabi in Spring 2017, particularly focusing on downstream and are looking for our members to have a presence at next year’s ADIPEC and they’ve asked us to consider hosting a Scottish Day as part of the conference.
Lots for your Chamber to do.
If you’re interested in participating in the trade mission, please get in touch with seona.shand@agcc.co.uk.