PR | Fujairah Announces Its Arrival as Global Energy Hub at London’s IP Week 2017

H.H. Sheikh Dr. Rashid Bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Deputy Chairman, Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, led an Industry Delegation from the UAE’s Emirate of Fujairah to a Series of business conferences in London during the annual International Petroleum Week Feb. 20-23, 2017

By The Gulf Intelligence

H.H. Sheikh Dr. Rashid Bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Deputy Chairman, Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, led an Industry Delegation from the UAE’s Emirate of Fujairah to a Series of business conferences in London during the annual International Petroleum Week Feb. 20-23, 2017

London (Feb. 22nd, 2017) – His Highness Sheikh Dr. Rashid Bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Deputy Chairman, Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, led a delegation of Fujairah industry leaders to London (Feb. 20-23) to bolster the emirate’s arrival at the top table of global energy trading hubs. HH was accompanied by His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Saleh Al Sharqi, the Vice Chairman of the Fujairah National Group.

Dr. Salem Abdo Khalil, Technical Advisor, Government of Fujairah, delivered a keynote lecture at the Middle East Energy Summit hosted by the Energy Institute at its annual International Petroleum Week conference, where he briefed the 300 industry delegates on how national oil companies (NOCs) in the Gulf are finding their feet after decades of relying on the financial and technical expertise of international oil companies (IOCs).

“The current era of low oil prices and rising energy demand means NOCs are undergoing unprecedented change since their inception more than seventy years ago,” said Dr. Salem, who is also a member of FOIZ Development Committee. “The energy industry in the Gulf that we know today will have a different face by this time next year -- the ever-growing range of sophisticated infrastructure, storage, and trading facilities at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, Port of Fujairah and Fujairah Free Zone will play a crucial enabling Gulf-based NOCs, IOCs and service companies to diversify and expand their footprint at home and abroad,” Dr. Salem added.

Fujairah’s location to the south of the Strait of Hormuz – through which around 40% of seaborne oil passes – makes it a strategic location from which the Gulf’s energy entities can expand their commercial footprints. The Port of Fujairah is already the world’s second largest bunkering hub, and in the last year alone the Port has launched a $175m very large crude carrier (VLCC jetty), which completes the port’s offering as a one-stop shop service for thousands of ships that it hosts each year.

The decision by FOIZ to publish weekly oil inventory data, which started in January, has spearheaded market discussions on how best to launch the Middle East’s first independent pricing benchmark for oil products. Furthermore, the goal of FOIZ to increase petroleum storage capacity by 75% to 14 million cubic meters by 2020 is well underway and a second VLCC jetty may be built at the Port of Fujairah in the medium-term.

A large majority (83%) of respondents to a Gulf Intelligence Industry Survey in 2016 said that Fujairah is the region’s best spot to bolster the Middle East’s global trading presence.

About IP Week:

The Energy Institute is the largest Royal Charter international professional membership organization and learned society concerned solely with energy, with Her Majesty the Queen as its Patron. IP Week is recognized as one of the major international oil and gas events, where senior leaders, policy makers, and academics gather to share, learn and shape the future direction of the industry. IP Week has a global appeal, attracting delegates from over 50 countries and it is one of the major events in the Energy Institute's annual program.

About Gulf Intelligence:

Gulf Intelligence is a UAE-based strategic communications consultancy that facilitates critical Knowledge Exchange and Networking between stakeholders operating across the South-South Corridor – connecting Government Related Entities in the Middle East and their International Partners trading across this New Silk-Road passageway from Asia to Africa.

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