Beirut, Lebanon, April 16, 2014: Dozens of college students and young professionals who will form the next generation of technical experts and decision makers charting the development of the Middle East’s oil and gas sector will come together for four days of lectures, workshops and team-building in Doha, Qatar, starting April 16.
The innovative and thought-provoking educational platform will be officially opened on April 17 by His Excellency Dr Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Qatar’s Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage.
Now in its second year, the ‘Total Alreyada: Connecting Young Leaders Summit’ will receive around 50 undergraduates and young engineers from around the Middle East, including three aspiring energy leaders from Lebanon.
The participants will discuss the many industry challenges that need to be addressed to meet rising local and global energy demand.
The inaugural Alreyada, held in Abu Dhabi last year, welcomed a similar number of young oil and gas specialists from eight Middle East countries. The initiative was named Best CSR Initiative in the Middle East at the 2013 ADIPEC Awards, one of the region’s leading awards for the oil and gas sector.
Stéphane Michel, President Middle East & North Africa for the Exploration & Production Division at Total, said: “What makes Alreyada special is the fact that it is an event for the young energy leaders of the Middle East, to gain insights and expertise from leading industry experts in the Middle East.”
Michel added: “Educating and motivating the energy leaders of tomorrow is a responsibility we at Total and our National Oil Company partners take very seriously, and the second Alreyada summit will once again be a highly engaging platform to share knowledge and experience from across the Middle East and North Africa, an extremely diverse region where our operations date back many decades.”
Held at Doha’s Ritz Carlton hotel, Alreyada 2014 will host technical and industry presentations by MENA experts from a variety of business domains including upstream oil and gas, refining and chemicals, and renewable energies.
The summit will host top executives from many of the region’s leading oil and gas companies, including Qatar Petroleum, Qatargas, Qapco, Dolphin Energy, Kuwait Energy and Petroleum Development Oman.
Among the high-level presentations scheduled for the first full-day session on April 17, Sheikh Khalid Abdullah Al Thani, Chief Operating Officer of Qatargas, will present on the evolving energy landscape in the Middle East and the present and future challenges facing oil and gas producers.
Talent development, leadership, innovation and sustainability will be other subjects under discussion during the summit.
The Alreyada attendees will also take part in workshops and team-building exercises and enjoy sightseeing visits, including to the Qatar Science & Technology Park, of which Total is a founding partner and where it has run a dedicated R&D facility since 2009, and Doha’s celebrated Museum of Islamic Art.
Commenting on Lebanon’s participation in Alreyada, Jacques Souplet, Managing Director of Total Liban and Total Group representative in Lebanon, said: “Total’s extensive network and long heritage in the Middle East and North Africa allows us to share, along with our NOC friends and partners, a vast amount of knowledge and experience with the next generation of oil and gas specialists in the region. The ‘Alreyada: Connecting Young Leaders Summit’ is a unique occasion to bring some of the region’s brightest young minds together and we’re delighted to have Lebanon involved this year.”