4th Annual Global Petrochemicals Technology Conference, organized by Fleming Gulf Conferences at the Grand Hyatt Doha - Qatar, got off to a great start today with global petrochemical experts gathering to discuss the latest developments. Investments in Qatar's petrochemical industry are expected to boost its export portfolio to 23 million tons per annum by 2020. With demand for petrochemicals on the rise globally and the changing dynamics of supply along with the evolving dynamics of feedstock, companies world over are eager to invest in the region tapping into its huge potential with respect to technology.

Day one of the conference saw Prof. Farid Benyahia, Professor & Head of Chemical Engineering Department - Qatar University delivering the key note address on integrating carbon management in petrochemical complexes. He focussed on the technical and economic challenges of utilizing captured carbon in petrochemical plants. Farid Benyahia is holder of PhD and MSc in Chemical Engineering from Newcastle University in the UK and BSc (Hons) from Aston University in the UK. He has taught process and plant design, including petrochemical plants for over 18 years and developed a unique plant design team teaching scheme at Qatar University involving university professors and senior process engineers at local and international companies. Dr. Jean - Maria Basset, Director at Kaust Catalysis Center - KCC; Saudi Arabia followed to present on the evolution of catalysis to meet the future challenges of petrochemical industry in the coming years. He spoke about the development of new catalytic processes across chemical, petroleum and new energies industries and new strategies for refining implemented based on a new generation of catalysts able to achieve cascade reactions. Mr. Vinayak R Marathe, Senior Vice President at Reliance Technology Group - India, presented on manufacturing excellence through advance plant monitoring after the coffee break. Marathe has got 34 years of experience in the areas of operation, new grass root plants commissioning, project management, industrial relations and business transformation. His presentation shed light on process reliability improvement and identifying optimization opportunities for sustained operations and was well received by the delegates. Dr. Meshal Al-Samhan, Petrochemical Program Manager - Petroleum Research Center Kuwait presented on structural changes in GCC petrochemical industry; a comparative to competitive view and Rajeev Pandia, Executive Director; India - GRP Ltd presented on impact of feedstock shifts in GCC on strategy to offset emerging challenges.

Delegates post lunch got an opportunity to participate in a panel discussion on driving investment in innovation; identifying the next generation R & D objectives and ways of reaching there. One of the key highlights of the discussion was the importance of collaboration with academic research institutions and spreading research culture in the region. Dr. Pawel Poprawa, Advisor at Energy Studies Institute Warsaw ended the day with his presentation on the implications of using non - conventional feedstock on the future of the global petrochemical markets.

Tomorrow, day two of the conference will see presentations from Venkata M.R. Kapavarapu; Senior Process Engineer at Kuwait Oil Company, Asim Zaman; Director at Linkers Chemicals & Polymers and Eng. Ihab Yahia Abdel - Kader; Head of Marketing Department at Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company (ETHYDCO). R. Dave DeJohn, Project Manager at Kuwait Oil Company will also deliver a workshop titled; ensuring your exemplary process safety program doesn’t fall on deaf ears. A workshop on process safety management in petrochemical space will be delivered by Saeed Araf, Senior Engineer Services HSE at Kuwait Oil Company on the final day. The conference is sponsored by Haldor Topsoe, Unidense and CTP Environnement.

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