DAY 1 Monday 30 January 2012
09.30

Overview Session
Recent Developments and Outlook

• A new political environment or business as usual?
• How are the national infrastructures, chiefly the legal systems, reforming or adapting to change?
• How are regional developments affecting the appetite to fund projects in the region?
• What steps are the region’s governments taking to channel oil revenues to build national economic prosperity?
• What are the implications of the recent regional changes for Iran’s role in the region? What are the implications for Iraq?

Chair   
Dr Robin Niblett
Director
Chatham House   

Speaker Panel
Dr Paul Salem
Director, Carnegie Middle East Center
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Dr Claire Spencer
Head, Middle East and North Africa Programme
Chatham House

Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
House of Commons, UK

Frank Tétart
Associate Professor in Geopolitics
The University of Geneva

Ambassador C David Welch
President, Europe, Africa & Middle East
Bechtel

10.30 – 10.50 Refreshments

Session One
The Region in the International Arena

• How is the region’s domestic energy consumption affecting global supplies?
• How will internal and external demand affect the region’s investment decisions?
• What impact will the outcome of the current political turmoil have on governments' depletion policies in the region?
• What effect is the International Energy Agency’s action to release its strategic stockpiles of oil to safeguard the global recovery having in the Middle East?
• How far can OPEC safeguard the oil revenues of the region? Is the OPEC quota system dead or under terminal strain?
• Will international oil companies (IOCs) be able to make significant investments?
• What role for Middle East gas supplies in the context of the ‘Shale Gas Revolution’?

Chair   
Professor Paul Stevens
Senior Research Fellow, Energy, Environment and Development Programme
Chatham House

10.50  Opening Keynote Address
HE Engineer Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi (on the record)
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Questions and discussion

Keynote Address
HE Abdalla El-Badri (on the record)
Secretary General
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

Questions and discussion

11.40  Speakers
Charles Hendry MP
Minister of State
Department of Energy and Climate Change

HE Adnan Al Janabi MP 
Chairman of Oil & Energy Committee
Iraqi Council of Representatives

Leonardo Bellodi
Executive Vice President Public Affairs
eni spa

Questions and discussion

13.15 – 14.15    Lunch

Session Two
North Africa: New Regimes and the Energy Sector 

• Is the new generation of leaders representing the views of the broader population in national politics?  
• How are the political and economic relationships of the new regimes developing within and outside the region? 
• Egypt and Libya – what happens next? 
• What implications do the recent developments have on international investment behaviour? 
• Given the regional uncertainty, will IOCs be willing and able to access North Africa’s oil and gas reserves?
• How has the refining sector been affected by recent developments and what investment opportunities are there?

Chair   
Dr Claire Spencer

Speakers
Christopher Segar
Middle East Analyst
International Energy Agency

Ali Hached
Senior Adviser to the Minister of Energy and Mines
Algeria

Dr Hakim Darbouche
Research Fellow
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies  

1500 - 15.30 Refreshments

Speakers
Dr Bahgat Korany
Professor of International Relations
American University in Cairo

Dr Charles Gurdon
Managing Director
Menas Associates Ltd

Jon Marks
Chairman
Cross-border Information Ltd

16.15 Moderated Discussion

17.00    End of Day One and Reception

 
DAY 2 Tuesday 31 January 2012
09.30

Session Three
Energy Perspectives from the Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council 

• Saudi Arabia was a prime mover in setting up the Gulf Cooperation Council: What are Saudi Aramco’s investment goals?  What challenges does Saudi Aramco face today? 
• How is the domestic energy consumption in the GCC countries affecting global supplies? 
• What are the short- and medium-term plans for investment in production expansion?  
• What may be the role of alternative energy sources in maintaining oil exports?
• What are the economic challenges to developing liquefied natural gas and gas to liquid? What investment sources are available?  
• What role is there likely to be for foreign investment in the energy sector?
• Is the role of sovereign wealth funds in managing revenues changing?

Chair   
Dr Paul Salem

Speakers
Farouq Al Zanki
Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation

Majid Jafar
Chief Executive
Crescent Petroleum

Professor Paul Stevens

11.00 – 11.20    Refreshments

Professor Jonathan Stern
Chairman and Senior Research Fellow, Natural Gas Research Programme
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

Dr Francis Perrin
Editorial Manager, Arab Oil & Gas
Arab Petroleum Research Center

Questions and discussion

12.30 – 13.30    Lunch

Session Four
Iraq 2012

• What is the current status of Iraq’s hydrocarbon law? 
• How will the disputes over Iraq’s reserves be resolved?  
• What is the future of the Iraq National Oil Company and the status of Iraq’s pipelines?
• What role will Iraq’s export revenues play in rebuilding its economy?
• Has the role of IOCs in Iraq been affected by regional developments?

Chair
Bill Farren-Price
Chief Executive
Petroleum Policy Intelligence

Keynote Address
HE Adnan Al Janabi MP
Chairman of Oil & Energy Committee
Iraqi Council of Representatives

Questions and discussion

Speaker
Ad Melkert
Former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq

Panel discussion

David Butter
Regional Director, Middle East and North Africa
Economist Intelligence Unit

Majid Jafar

Frank Tétart

Ad Melkert
 

15.10 End of conference and Refreshments

© The Royal Institute of International Affairs 2011