Special Presentation

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Lessons from the Past, the Key to a Prosperous Future in the Middle East

Monday, 30 September 2024, 1:15 p.m.–2:40 p.m. | Muscat, Oman

This special session addresses the Middle East’s past, the state-of-the art and the future of petroleum and energy development. The discovery of hydrocarbons in the Middle East during the beginning of the 20th century has significantly impacted on the prosperity of the region. Hydrocarbon exploration was challenging owing to regional/tribal conflicts of young Arab nations, missing infrastructure and harsh climate conditions. Thus, the pioneering exploration has witnessed many interesting stories with lots of lessons learned from successes and failures. These challenges were solved by key discoveries, and technological advancements. The Middle East provided the fuel for the world over the past decades until today, and became one of the wealthiest regions of this planet.

As consuming hydrocarbons is one of the main causes of the increase of the carbon content of the atmosphere and for global warming, the world is searching for carbon-free alternative energy and renewable energy sources. Based on the lessons learned from the hydrocarbon production of the past 100 years, the geological setting of the Arabian Plate, and the farsighted Arab nations, the Middle East may play a key role in the global energy transition, including the adaptation of renewable and reliable energy sources, natural hydrogen and carbon sequestration. These lessons will help as the Middle East ventures into new sources of energy and mineral resources to ensure continual prosperity of this region. This energy transition requires identifying key challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the petroleum industry in the Middle East.