OREANDA-NEWS. December 01, 2009. KIOGE 2009, the 17th Kazakhstan International Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference, took place in Almaty.

Over the past 17 years, KIOGE has developed into an annual working forum of an international scale. This year, the exhibition was visited by thousands of representatives of science, production and management from all areas of the oil, oil processing, petrochemical, gas, and oil transportation sectors; environmental specialists; and representatives of humanitarian organizations, civil society and government bodies.

The exhibitors this year included National Company KazMunaiGaz, KazGiproNefteTrans LLP, MunayGasEngineering, KazPetroMash, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, NIPI NefteGaz, Gazprom, Lukoil, B.V. Chevron, CNPC, GDF SUEZ, Innovation Norway, Invensys, Inpex, Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V., NCOC, SOCAR, STATOIL, Total and many others. Canada, China, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Finland, Turkey and the UK had national stands at the exhibition.

This year, 27% of exhibitors signed contracts during the exhibition. In a welcome letter, Saut Mynbaev, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan, said: “The exhibition has already cemented its status as the largest and most authoritative event of this kind not only in Kazakhstan but in the entire Central Asian region. This is another objective indicator of the success achieved by Kazakhstan under the leadership of President Nursultan Nazarbayev.”

The exhibition included the traditional job fair. Representatives of human resources departments and recruitment consultants sought out people keen to work in regional and international companies in the oil and gas industry.

The exhibition programme this year included a number of events, one of which was the “Water and Energy: Discover the World of H2O and Watts!” exhibition. The exhibition gave visitors a chance to learn how to reduce their water and energy usage. The event was organised by the Kazakhstan-German University. This is an example of the direct effect of KIOGE on Kazakhstan’s educational and scientific spheres.

One of the highlights of the exhibition was the KIOGE conference. 926 delegates listened to reports from senior representatives of several oil and gas companies. This year, special attention was given to investing in Kazakhstan as a supplier of Caspian hydrocarbons to Eurasian markets. The Kashagan project was mentioned several times, and has become a symbol of Kazakhstan’s oil and gas industry. “In the next ten years, Kazakhstan will become one of the main international suppliers of energy outside of OPEC,” said Daniel Poneman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy.

Natural gas is a prospective energy resource for Kazakhstan. It is currently only exported to Russia. But, according to Tim Gould - Programme Manager for the Caspian, Caucasus and Southeast Europe, International Energy Agency (IEA) – the situation will soon change, and supplies of natural gas from the Caspian basin will amount to 10% of the total market volume.

KIOGE has become a platform for the professional discussion of the development of the oil and gas industry of Kazakhstan and the countries of the Caspian region. The exhibition and conference reflected the main trends of development in the region’s oil and gas industry, and identified the prospects for the growth of Kazakhstan’s oil and gas market, which is extremely important during the crisis.

The event was organised by the Kazakhstan exhibition company Iteca and the international group of exhibition companies ITE Group (UK), with partners from Russia, Germany, Turkey, China and other countries. The following organisations have supported and taken part in the event since its foundation: Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Mayor’s Office of Almaty; National Company KazMunaiGaz; Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan; European Business Association of Kazakhstan (EUROBAK); The European Commission’s Delegation to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; and diplomatic missions accredited in Kazakhstan. Media support was provided by over 100 Kazakhstani and international media outlets.