KIOGE is the largest Kazakhstan and central Asia oil and gas event. As well as the unique platform in the region to meet, discuss and analyze the global situation and the coming trends. In October (5-7) will take place a new edition in Almaty. So if you are really interested or you are planning to attend, don't miss our interview with the organizers...!
Kioge is the leading Oil & Gas event in Asia. But what makes it different from other similar shows?
KIOGE pioneered the large-scale exposition of oil & gas topics and market development in Kazakhstan from the beginnings of Kazakhstan’s oil & gas industry after independence and 25 years later is still the one place for keeping abreast of all market developments and meeting national and regional stakeholders and the latest technology from across the oil & gas industry. Additionally, KIOGE is uniquely placed as the one event for Kazakhstan in the year leading up to Expo2017 where the World’s attention will fall on the country.
Why Kazakhstan? And what benefits brings the event to the region?
Kazakhstan is a world leader in all senses in the oil industry. Consistently in the top 20 of oil-producing countries, Kazakhstan has the potential to raise ever higher and recent developments such as the pending resumption of the enormous Kashagan field and the world-record $38Bn investment by Chevron have really energised the o&g community. Kazakhstan also occupies a pivotal component of the Silk Road for throughput of supplies to and from China and has extensive pipeline connections with Russia and around the Caspian Sea. KIOGE annually counts the likes TCO and NCOC (Kashagan) amongst its sponsors and participants and offers the opportunity for new investors and technology providers to get involved in pushing forward the development of the region as a whole; oil & gas are tremendously important contributors to development in Kazakhstan and the broader Caspian region.
What novelties will we find in the next edition?
The mentioned resumption of Kashagan and the Chevron investment in TCO are very fresh pieces of news and will be showcased to a global audience for the first time at KIOGE. Additionally we are for the first time running the conference format as a series of roundtables on specific topic issues (i.e. geology, investment, EOR) so that more in-depth discussion can take place and buyers and suppliers have a much greater opportunity to talk business and will be scheduling a series of b2b meetings with our local partners including Kazmunaygaz.
One of the strengths of Kioge is its conference program, can you highlight a session in particular?
All the sessions are led by the leading experts in their field but the opening plenary really sets the scene. The title is “Investment attractiveness of the oil & gas sector of Kazakhstan” led by the Ministry of Energy and the Chairman of the Presidium of KazService. Here we will hear directly what the opportunities in Kazakhstan are, what attractive fiscal terms are in place to entice new investors and how this renewed bullishness in the oil industry offers opportunities for new business partners and suppliers.
What do you think that are the coming trends in the oil & gas sector?
The oil & gas sector has gone through a period entitled “low for long” where operators have had to re-adjust for a prolonged period of low crude prices. This has meant that the oil & gas companies have had to adjust their priorities to focus on “sure things” i.e. countries and prospects where the ROI and sustained production are most reliable. They have also really re-focused a lot of attention on how these supplies get to market and therefore countries with well-developed transportation options, i.e. if you are going to produce oil (or gas) you better make sure you have a quick, cheap and efficient means of supplying your customer base through pipelines, ships etc.
Luckily Kazakhstan has both enormous supplies which tick the economies of scale box and very well-developed pipeline infrastructure with all of its neighbours in addition to having huge consumer markets such as China and Russia on its doorstep.
What is the visitor's profile
The visitors really do straddle the whole o&g sector; Senior Directors, Ministers and Heads of government organizations supply many of the speakers and attendees of the conference and the exhibition welcomes engineers, procurement officers, sales and marketing professionals and technology experts from across the value chain. Kazakhstan is about much more than just extracting oil from the ground and has a burgeoning downstream industry and transportation sector in addition to growing investments in new sectors such as biofuels, renewable energy and energy efficiency and KIOGE reflects the market accordingly.
Finally, can you give us some participation results from the last edition?
In 2015 we welcomed some 338 exhibiting companies as well as more than 4000 unique visitors which was an exceptional result in one of the most difficult years in recent memory for the o&g industry.