Aramco representatives who helped the company host the International Petroleum (IP) Week reception in London pose for a photo during the event. This year’s IP Week attracted more than 1,500 senior executives, and Aramco hosted a reception attended by 600 professionals representing the full spectrum of the hydrocarbon value chain in what was considered the premier networking event of IP Week.
As a major draw within the oil and gas industry in recent years, International Petroleum Week (IP Week) has focused on the challenges facing operators, such as consolidation, achieving efficiencies, and streamlining operations.
“IP Week, and this well-attended reception, provides us with another opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to our customers in this region,” said Ahmed A. Al-Subaey, vice president of Marketing, Sales, and Supply Planning at Saudi Aramco. “I look forward to IP Week to update our customers on what we are doing to maintain our position as the most reliable supplier of energy to the world, and exhibit how we continue to invest in strengthening our value proposition.”
An example of this was Aramco’s recent purchase of crude oil storage in Rotterdam in the Netherlands that nearly doubles the company’s storage capacity in support of this market.
“It’s important that Aramco maintains visibility, particularly in times of transition, when the industry looks toward major companies to show leadership, and face challenges head on,” said Ibrahim Q. Al-Buainain, CEO of Aramco Trading Company. “It’s excellent to see so many counterparts here tonight, discussing these very challenges.
On being asked how Saudi Petroleum Overseas benefits from IP Week, Emad M. Al Dughaither, managing director of Saudi Petroleum Overseas Ltd. (SPOL), said: “We engage with our customers constantly throughout the year. However, IP Week provides us with the opportunity to listen and discuss, together with industry experts, the challenges we are trying to tackle in a focused and collaborative fashion.”
Advantage Aramco
The majority of attendees comprise Aramco Petroleum Marketing’s customers in the region, representing a host of oil, gas and refining majors, which the company supplies with crucial feedstock.
Indeed, Aramco’s customers benefit from the company’s unprecedented scale — its size and quality of reserves — which, together with the company’s constant investments in production and supply chain facilities, offer a strong competitive advantage.
In addition, Aramco is considered among the lowest cost producers, achieved through the application of leading industry technologies. Furthermore, integration of the value chain — from exploration to product marketing — allows for the optimization of production, with strategic access to key markets through dedicated outlets, such as SPOL, hosts of the IP Week reception.
A New Working Model
Falling oil prices still shaped much of the dialog at recent IP Week gatherings, with this year’s discussions based on transitioning to a new working model in the face of changing market conditions. The program also looked at the role the industry must play in decarbonization, while also examining at the ever-increasing role of gas and strategies to enhance sustainable energy development.
This year’s speaker roster was also a strong one, featuring BP CEO Bob Dudley and Pratima Rangarajan — both of whom play significant roles in the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) that Saudi Aramco helped to initiate with nine other oil and gas majors. Rangarajan is the CEO of OGCI Climate Investments.