CBJ - August 4 - A date penned in the oil and gas industry’s diary for many months now draws near: the Petrochem Arabia conference on October 9—11, and anticipation continues to mount as expectations for growth opportunities within the Kingdom’s petrochemical conversion industries are high.

Interested parties predict look forward to key discussions including on the downstream industries in the Middle East— under the conference’s moniker, “Creating Value Downstream,”—and Saudi Arabian operations where to date more than US$20 billion worth of projects are in various stages of tendering. In attendance are heads from some impressive programmes stemming from the region, including the National Industrial Cluster Development Programme (NICDP) and NAPCO.

Speaking to press, the Executive Vice President for NAPCO’s Flexible Plastics Division, Dr. Hanna Saad, also built suspense, highlighting that the event carries particular weight because “it gives both the resin producers and the conversion sector the opportunity to interact intelligently and end up operating in partnership as one value chain rather than Supplier – Customer.”

Petrochem Arabia has some serious backing too, and is sponsored by some of the industry’s biggest names including the Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu, Petro Rabigh, ABB, ExxonMobil and Al Jomaih Holding Co.