Leading Oil & Gas Operators Gather to Discuss Procurement Best Practice Strategies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) April 21, 2009 -- The two-day conference, with three interactive workshops, will take place in Abu Dhabi from 14 – 17 June 2009 at the Al Raha Beach Hotel Abu Dhabi.

Industry leaders will gather to discuss their achievements in improving procurement processes and strategies to effectively minimize costs. The very latest industry challenges will be addressed and attendees can immerse themselves in topical discussions through interactive panel sessions.

Conference Director Sandra Hijnen says: “The oil & gas market situation has changed drastically over recent months. The current economic climate, coupled with declining oil prices, has led to increased pressure on procurement departments to dramatically cut costs in order to maintain profit margins. This essential industry summit will provide the delegates with best-practice implementations and will address some of the very latest industry challenges.”

The expert speaker panel will address the importance of procurement processes and strategies to their organization. According to Sharifa Marhuba, Team leader Supplier Support at Petroleum Development Oman (PDO): “Although it is non-core to most businesses, procurement forms a crucial part of most companies. Conventionally, procurement is labour intensive without bringing in any revenue. E-enabling procurement streamlines the process, reducing transaction costs, whilst keeping pace with the e-world.

The workshop will provide the opportunity for delegates to interact and share experiences with an e-Procurement professional from Petroleum Development Oman, a company leading in Online Bidding in the whole of Shell.”

Geoff Blanford, BSC MBA Procurement Advisor and former Procurement Manager at Umm Al-Jawaby Oil Services Co. Ltd said: “During a downturn in economic activity, when profits start to fall, procurement suddenly receives a great deal of management attention, which it is usually ill-equipped to handle, being normally a neglected area of a business. Managers, buyers, specifying engineers and maintenance managers should learn how to take advantage of buying strategy through good times and bad and to ensure that the procurement process is supported at the highest level of a business.”

Ph D J. Samuel Armacanqui, Head ESP Contract at Petroleum Development Oman reflected on the value of the conference: “This is an excellent venue where Contract Engineers, Contract Holders, Cost Control Engineers and other Professionals from the Supply Chain and Procurement Teams of the main Oil/Gas and Heavy Industry Companies come together to share about faced challenges and the utilized approach to land to best solutions. Apart from the networking opportunities it is a good tool for regional benchmarking and to capture some global trends. All this has to do with careful expending and therefore it supports our day to day tasks.”

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