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| Isaacson, Albuainain, Brown, Dr al-Derham, Mawlawi, and Dr Wigton announce the symposium yesterday |
The event, organised by Qatar University’s Gas Processing Centre (GPC), has Qatar Shell as elite sponsor, along with main sponsors Qatar Petroleum, ConocoPhillips Qatar, ExxonMobil Qatar and Dolphin Energy.
The symposium theme is ‘Diversity in Natural Gas Utilisation,’ it was announced at a press conference at QU yesterday.
QU vice president for research Dr Hassan al-Derham, College of Engineering dean Dr Mazen Hasna, GPC director professor Abdelwahab Aroussi, Qatar Shell country chairman and managing director Andy Brown, QP’s director of administration Ahmed Mawlawi, ConocoPhillips Qatar president Erec Isaacson, Dolphin Energy Qatar general manager Adel Ahmed Albuainain, and ExxonMobil Research Qatar’s research director Dr Andy Wigton were present.
Dr al-Derham said the symposium is very timely, given the ever-increasing importance placed on natural gas in the development of greener products and technologies to advance sustainable economic development.
Dr Hasna described the event as a golden opportunity not only for QU’s students of engineering, but also those in the sciences, environment, business and law to hear first-hand from leading industry players, top academics and experts on a topic that is critical for Qatar and its development.
Prof Aroussi stated that, along with its consortium members, the GPC is committed to engaging the national, regional and international community to address the various challenges related to sustainable and diversified gas utilisation.
Recalling that ConocoPhillips is a founding member of the GPC and an active partner in a number of QU’s programmes this year, Erec Isaacson reiterated total support to Qatar’s efforts to diversify gas utilisation and the advancement of new efficient and ‘greener’ technologies, which promote economic development and sustainability.
“We have no alternative but to look at natural gas as a strategic, viable clean alternative – one that Qatar is blessed to have in abundance,” he said.
Dr Wigton observed that GPC focuses on enhancing the educational experience for engineering students at QU and ultimately helps address challenges facing the gas industry.
“This is a shared priority for ExxonMobil, and is reflected in our support of GPC and QU, as well as in our business practices, as we continually look for ways to develop the next generation of scientists and engineers and to continually raise the bar in operational excellence,” he said.
Albuainain stated that the symposium not only strengthens the link between education and the energy industry, but also fosters debate and discussion to help highlight the importance of gas processing.
Pointing out that the symposium’s theme was particularly relevant to Shell’s activities in Qatar, Brown referred to the company’s ongoing relationship with QU, in sponsoring the chair in Sustainable Development, its involvement in the Al Bairaq programme under the Materials Technology Unit, and last year’s global Shell eco-Marathon challenge in Germany in which QU student teams took part.
The symposium will include presentations by keynote speakers, and attendees will participate in a series of discussion and technical sessions, workshops and training seminars led by expert presenters.
They will also take part in trips to Qatar’s industrial cities which host the longest LNG production trains in the world.
The symposium programme will also include an exhibition by QP, Shell, Qapco, Dolphin Energy, Gas Processing Association of GCC, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil Qatar, Resato, CCTE Algeria, and others.