PREFACE
Bahrain is an Arabic word meaning "Two Seas", and refers to two facts, one that the islands contain two sources of water, sweet water springs and salty water in the surrounding seas, or to the south and north waters of the gulf, separating it from the Arabian coast and Iran, respectively.

Bahrain Island is a pear-shaped land mass 48 km. long and 16 km. Wide, the total area is 770 sq km, the Capital is Manama and population is 1,039,297.
GCC ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

The GCC is an oil-based region with the largest proven oil reserves in the world (489.4 billion barrels), 36.7% of the world’s total crude oil reserves. OPEC accounts for 71% of the world’s total proved crude oil reserves. This region ranks as the largest producer as well as exporter of petroleum and plays a leading role in the world in general and OPEC in particular.

For the GCC region, oil & gas represent approximately 73% of total export earnings. Oil and gas sector accounts for roughly 63% of government’s revenues and 41% of its GDP.

The six countries of the GCC region have enjoyed a spectacular economic boom until late 2008. The GCC economy tripled in size to $ 1.1 trillion during 2002 to 2008. GCC countries account for 52.1% of the total OPEC oil reserves and 49.5% of the total OPEC crude oil production.

HYDROCARBON INDUSTRY IN BAHRAIN

Petroleum and natural gas, the only significant natural resources in Bahrain, dominate the economy and provide about 60% of budget revenues. Bahrain was the first Persian Gulf state to discover crude oil. Because of limited reserves, Bahrain has worked to diversify its economy over the past decade.

The Bahrain Oil Company refinery was built in 1935, has a capacity of about 250,000 barrels (40,000 m³) per day, and was the first in the Persian Gulf.

OME (OFFSHORE MIDDLE EAST)

OME is the premier technical conference and exhibition for the exploration and development of offshore resources in the Middle East. A summit for sharing of experiences and a platform for the offshore industry of the Middle East to meet. The OME is organized by Penn well Corporation.

The first annual Offshore Middle East Conference and Exhibition (OME) held in October 2008 in Doha, Qatar. Delivering new opportunities, unique information, and lessons learned for those in the offshore oil and gas arena. OME is the only event dedicated to offshore operations in the Middle East.

OME has played an important role in the expanding market of the Middle East. Three-day exhibition brought new focus to the Middle East oil and gas market, which has grown to surpass the Gulf of Mexico for active jack up rigs.

The major topics included field development, management, mobile offshore drilling units, drilling operations, subsea technology, data collection/communication, flow assurance, pipelines, mooring and station-keeping, completions, well construction, and tubular.

OFFSHORE MIDDLE EAST- BAHRAIN

Offshore Middle East 2009 scheduled for Oct. 27-29, 2009 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre in Manama, Bahrain.

The exhibition officially opened at 10:30 am in October 27^th.

H.E. Dr. Abdul-Hussain Bin Ali Mirza, Minister of Oil & Gas Affairs and Chairman of National Oil Authority, Kingdom of Bahrain, delivered the keynote address. He was appointed Minister of State in 2002 and Minister of Cabinet Affairs in 2004. Prior to becoming a Cabinet minister, he was CEO of Bapco.

He said Bahrain expects to steadily increase its own oil production and plans to reach 100,000 barrels per day in the next 20 years.

The minister said one of the initiatives is to develop the Bahrain Oilfield, the second initiative is offshore and the third important and vital initiative is the deep gas exploration programme.

The other keynote speaker s were, Fahad A. Al-Moosa, VP of Northern Area Oil Operation, Offshore Operations, Saudi Aramco. He is responsible for the production and management of the oil production operations for all the Saudi Arabian Offshore fields. Al-Moosa is chairman of Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Co. (Luberef), a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and Jadwa Investment. The company produces base oil in Jeddah and Yanbu.

And the Chairman of Offshore Middle East 2009 was Abdulla I. Al-Kubaisy the manager of Safaniya Offshore Producing Department, Saudi Aramco. Al-Kubaisy is responsible for production & management of three offshore oil fields – Safaniya, Zuluf, and Marjan – with a total production capacity of 2.5 MMb/d of oil.

After the speech, it was the ribbon cutting ceremony and kicking off the exhibition.
The Visitor

We met and discussed with some people who came from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and UK.  Also, we had a meeting with people from Saudi Aramco, MIS, DNV, Lamprell and Aker. Discussing the way to boost our business relationship.

The main exhibitors included: Asry, Expro Group, Global Petro Tech, GE Oil & Gas, Ixsea SAS, Penn Well, Qatar Petroleum, RDC Arabia Drilling, Roxar, Siemens Water Tech., Safra Company , The Levingston, Tracerco.

In comparison to OME 2008, this one was too small in size and few exhibitors took apart, the reasons could be the lower demand for energy, the lower demand for drilling rigs and the recession.

The three-day exhibition came to an end in October 29th with closing ceremony including remarks and recognition awards.