The Future of the Middle East Downstream Sector

The Future of the Middle East Downstream Sector Produced by:

Contents 03 Executive 04 The 05 EU 06 Arabian 07 Innovation 08 Case 12 Country 13 SWOT summary feedstock challenge free trade agreement could be the game changer Gulf downstream sector looks to joint ventures and research Studies Saudi Arabia A Downstream Giant In The Making Oman moving to centre stage Breakdown analysis

Foreword As the suppressed oil price becomes the new norm, the Middle East s downstream operators face a new operating reality. The loss of feedstock competitiveness and capitalised margins, coupled with more pressing international standards and compliance has meant that the region strives to compensate for its loss of leverage by improving yields and becoming more sustainable. As such, as long time advocates of new technology, investing in research and innovation are priorities. We have created a report to enable you to better understand the current landscape of the GCC s downstream sector. This report includes: The feedstock challenge with the ethane abundance drawing to an end, what does this mean for the region s access to feedstocks and competitiveness? Are we set to see increasing trade levels between the GCC and Europe with a free trade agreement JVs a win win scenario? Unlocking the Arabian Gulf s future petrochemical potential through research and innovation Saudi Arabia and Oman Case Studies A SWOT analysis of the regions downstream sector The World Refining Association is committed to creating high quality, strategic and technical conferences across the globe. We also recognise your need for pioneering industry content throughout the year. Enjoy the report, and please do get in touch with any feedback or questions. Best Regards Kay Mitchell General Manager World Refining Association e: kay.mitchell@clarionevents.me t: +971 4 435 6101

Executive Summary The steady decline in world crude oil prices from their highs of above $110 per barrel in mid 2014, to the sub $40 level at the end of 2015 is providing the Middle East s downstream sector with an almost unprecedented opportunity to expand. For decades, much of the focus within the region has been on the upstream oil and gas sector. But now, attention is turning to refined oil products and petrochemicals as the ability to benefit from better profit margins as cheaper feedstock becomes more evident. Those Middle East oil companies that years ago had the foresight to invest heavily in the downstream sector, now find their decisions vindicated. In 2015, they were able to gain some partial relief from the collapse in crude oil revenue, through higher downstream margins. However, there are challenges ahead. It is clear that although demand for refined products is rising within the Middle East region, the economic downturn in key Asian markets, in particular in China is leading to an oversupply situation. Meanwhile, the Arabian Gulf s petrochemical industry is hoping that the long awaited holy grail of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU) is on the verge of being signed. If and when an FTA is agreed it could provide a massive boost to the region s petrochemical exports. Gulf petrochemical exporters believe they are capable of out competing Europe s ageing refineries and petrochemical plants to become the main supplier to what is still one of the biggest downstream markets in the world. Furthermore, the Middle East s downstream industry is looking to increase its level of technological expertise through joint ventures with International Oil Company (IOC) partners. A rash of joint ventures have recently taken place, which are now beginning to bear fruit. As such, this is leading to an unprecedented knowledge transfer from the west to the Gulf region. Today s low oil price environment also presents a golden opportunity for governments in the region to tackle the vexed question of subsidies on refined products. These subsidies have over many years hamstrung the Gulf s downstream sectors bottom line. Recently, the UAE made a significant move to address this revenue haemorrhage by linking petrol and diesel to international market prices. 3

The feedstock challenge The gas derived feedstock to supply future petrochemical expansion in the Middle East is getting harder to come by. Since its inception, the region has built its downstream sector on a plentiful supply of ethane. However, the supply of ethane within the region is now becoming restricted and a number of producers are being forced to diversify. By contrast, the amount of ethane coming on to the market in North America thanks to cheap US shale derived gas is increasing, thereby revitalising the North American petrochemical industry and further increasing competition. The challenge for Middle Eastern petrochemical producers is to develop strategies to counter this advantage. Countries that are blessed with substantial quantities of gas reserves are likely to be the most capable of nullifying the threat from US shale gas. Iran has the world s second largest supply of conventional natural gas reserves, much of which are rich in ethane. This presents a huge opportunity for the Iranian petrochemical sector as sanctions are eased. The value of Iran s petrochemical exports is forecast to increase 20 25 percent within two years after the sanctions are lifted. In November, Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi, the Deputy Director of Iranian National Petrochemical Company (NPC), said that by March 2018, the country is planning on doubling its petrochemical output. Roughly $30 billion of investment opportunities have been identified in Iran s petrochemical sector. Within the next five years, Iran could be producing approximately 30 percent of the region s ethylene capacity. Total polyethylene capacity in Iran is currently 3.1 million tonnes, most of which is HDPE. New capacity that is expected to come online within the next three years will total nearly 3 million tonnes. This will bring the total polyethylene capacity in Iran to 6.1 million tonnes. In 2016, PE plants will come into operation along the country s western coastline that are expected to target the Turkish market. Another country in the region that is well endowed with gas resources is Saudi Arabia. The desert Kingdom alone is estimated to host over 257.8 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, of which 40 per cent is non associated. This makes Saudi Arabia s gas reserves the sixth largest in the world after Russia, Iran, Qatar, Turkmenistan and the United States. More than 95 percent of Saudi Arabia s basic petrochemicals are derived from methane and natural gas feedstock. Nonetheless, faced with the significant changes to the global feedstock outlook, the Gulf s petrochemical producers will need to rethink their priorities with regards to gas reserves. All available ethane in the Gulf has already been harnessed by petrochemical projects that are already launched or in the pipeline. Hereby, any incremental ethane for use as petrochemical feedstock will require incremental gas production. But the cost of producing incremental gas in the Gulf is increasing. That said ICIS estimates that despite the growing challenge of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and naphtha, ethane s feedstock share in the Arabian Gulf is expected to decline only marginally to 2020. The desert Kingdom alone is estimated to host over 257.8 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, of which 40 percent is non associated. 4

Country breakdown EU free trade agreement could be the game changer The FTA between the GCC and the EU has long been the holy grail of the Arabian Gulf s petrochemical industry. KEY FIGURES Just removing tariffs and reducing non tariff barriers alone would result in an estimated Negotiations between the two parties have been going since 1988. Nonetheless, there is now a sign following November s sixth annual dialogue in Brussels between the EU and the GCC that a deal is edging closer. Both the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) and the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) are keen for an FTA between the GCC and the EU to be expedited. Arabian Gulf petrochemical producers who for years have complained about the fact that EU tariffs put their exports into the EU at a disadvantage were last year hit by a more than doubling in the imported duties on petrochemical products from the region. The new Generalised Scheme of Preferences was introduced on January 1, 2014. This scheme increased the EU s duty on petrochemical imports from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE from 3% to 6.5%. Since the change, the results have been dramatic with Platts reporting a sharp downturn in Gulf petrochemical product imports to Europe. In the first six months immediately after the tariff rise, European imports from the Gulf on all three grades of polyethylene low density, linear low density, and high density totalled just 773,000 tonnes. This was down roughly 17 percent on the 926,000 tonnes that was imported in the same period in 2013. At the GPCA s 10th Annual Forum, held in November 2015, Abdulwahab Al Sadoun, Secretary General of the GPCA said that the creation of an FTA would dramatically increase trade levels between the GCC and Europe. Just removing tariffs and reducing non tariff barriers alone would result in an estimated $64.4 billion addition to the GDP of the Arabian Gulf economies out of which $5 billion could arise from chemical exports. A comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with this key trading partner, which would include the removal of customs tariff and associated non tariff barriers, will reduce operational costs for chemical exporters from the Arabian Gulf, increasing returns up to $2.1 billion for producers, he said. Differences over feedstock pricing and export controls have until now been the main obstacle to an agreement. However, around two years ago significant progress started to be made. The rise in polymer prices in Europe, triggered by plant shutdowns, helped strengthen the case being put forward by the GPCA and CEFIC. Roughly 12 percent of the Arabian Gulf s polymers production currently lands in Europe. This is much lower than the 50 percent of its total production, which is shipped to China. $64.4 BILLION A comprehensive Free Trade Agreement would increase returns up to $2.1 BILLION for producers addition to the GDP of the Arabian Gulf economies Roughly 12 percent of the Arabian Gulf s polymers production currently lands in Europe. This is much lower than the 50 percent of its total production, which is shipped to China. 5

Arabian Gulf downstream sector looks to joint ventures Meanwhile, the Middle East s downstream industry is undergoing a much needed rationalisation. Historically, national oil companies (NOCs) in the Middle East have relied on foreign support for hydrocarbon exploration and extraction, as well as the development of the downstream sector. However, knowledge transfer is currently underway as the Middle East s downstream sector catches up with its upstream counterpart. One example being, the Dow Chemical Company and Saudi Aramco, Sadara joint venture, which by the time the chemicals complex begins operations in early 2016 will have created a vast pool of highly skilled Saudi nationals. Additionally, Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) has created a system of partnerships with global industry leaders to enhance its knowledge base. Dubai Natural Gas Company (DUGAS) a wholly owned subsidiary of Emirates National Oil Company has entered into a joint venture with IG Petrochemicals to manufacture 450,000 tpy of maleic anhydride. One of the few such plants in the world, it will be located in Jebel Ali, Dubai. The product will be sold in the Middle East and India Phase II of the Petro Rabigh complex expansion. This expansion will add specialty ethylene and propylene based products to the plant s capacity. Petro Rabigh is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan s Sumitomo Chemical. The Saudi Aramco Fujian Refinery and Petrochemical Company in China with Sinopec. This plant is up and running and processes Saudi sour crude oil to produce high quality polymer products which are marketed in China by a Saudi Aramco affiliate. The most recent downstream joint ventures that will result in a technology transfer to Middle Eastern companies include: The 50:50 joint venture between SABIC and South Korea s SK Global Chemical. The purpose of this Singapore headquartered venture is to purchase an existing cutting edge petrochemical technology and South Korean petrochemical plant for $640 million. The SABIC SK Nexlene Company will purchase the Nexlene solution technology and a 230,000 tonnes per year (tpy) capacity plant in Ulsan, South Korea. The plant makes a range of high performance ethylene/alpha olefin copolymer products The Abu Dhabi based joint venture between the UK s Nortech Group and Dhabi Contracting LLC. The venture, Dhabi Nortech, will provide engineering, design and project management for the UAE s oil and gas, process, petrochemical and chemical sectors. Its first contract to deliver a systems upgrade has already been secured with Abu Dhabi s Gas Industries Ltd (GASCO) 6

Country breakdown Innovation and research KEY FIGURES Number of companies that have formulated an explicit innovation strategy Innovation will be the key to unlocking the Arabian Gulf s future petrochemical potential. According to the recent GPCA Innovation Survey, the number of companies that have formulated an explicit innovation strategy doubled from 21 percent in 2010 to 41 percent in 2015. An example is the Abu Dhabi Polymers Company Borouge s Innovation Centre in the UAE capital that was officially opened in November 2015. Located at Sas Al Nakhl, the new hi tech facility will focus on innovation and research in the field of polymer development and application technology. It will also develop value added plastics products, focusing on infrastructure, automotive and advanced packaging industries. Within the next five years the centre is expected to have filed around 750 patents, with new products accounting for around 1 million tonnes, or 25 percent of the company s annual sales. The centre works closely with the European innovation centres of Borealis one of Borouge s parent company s along with the Petroleum Institute and Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi. And it underlines Borouge s expansion strategy especially now that its new mega Borouge 3 plant has begun to come on stream. Eventually, Borouge is expected to become the largest integrated, single sited polyolefins complex in the world. NUMBER OF COMPANIES 21% 2010 YEAR 750 Patents expected to be filed within the next five years 25% 41% 2015 New products account for 25% of annual sale 7

CASE STUDY Saudi Arabia A Downstream Giant In The Making Saudi Arabia s downstream ambitions include an increase in its refining capacity to 8 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2024 from its current global refining capacity of 5.4 million bpd. The Kingdom is keen to take advantage of the steady improvement in refining margins that has put pressure on existing plant capacity to expand. Saudi Arabia s existing refiners are already operating flat out. The 400,000 bpd Yasref refinery, which was still being commissioned in January, is running at full capacity. So is the 400,000 bpd Total Saudi Aramco joint venture SATORP, Jubail refinery, which has been operating at its full nameplate capacity since August 2014. There are around 60 petrochemicals projects currently in the pipeline in Jubail and Yanbu. By 2016, Saudi Arabia s petrochemical industry exports are set to reach 100 million tons. 8

Case Study Recently, four new, export oriented refineries came online through partnerships between Saudi Aramco and foreign companies to complement the country s nine existing complexes with additional projects underway. Aramco are currently in the process of building five new refineries: two in Yanbu and one each in Jizan, Rabigh and Ras Tunara. They are expected to be fully operational before 2018. Nonetheless, pressure to expand capacity continues to grow. The Jubail refinery complex, which produces circa 1 million tpy of petrochemical products, will finally see petrochemical production expand at the facility. Jean Jacques Mosconi, Total s Senior Vice President for refining and petrochemicals in the Middle East and Asia, recently announced that the expansion would focus on the production of linear alpha olefins, poly alpha olefins and elastomers. Meanwhile, operations at the Sadara Chemical Company s massive chemical complex at Jubail Industrial City are expected to start in December 2015. The $20 billion joint venture established in 2011 by Saudi Aramco and the Dow Chemical Company has a capacity of more than three million tpy of refined products and is the world s largest chemical complex ever built in a single phase. Aramco is also in the early stages of a $20 billion refinery and petrochemical project at Yanbu. The new refinery will have a capacity of 400,000 bpd and stand next to the existing 240,000 bpd refinery. British based Amec Foster Wheeler is expected to win the front end engineering and design (FEED) contract, which if it goes ahead would see the refinery completed by 2023. Other developments include the start of trials by Saudi Butanol Co, a joint venture of local petrochemical firms in Jubail. Commercial operations are expected to start in the first half of 2016. The plant will be able to cash in on the rapidly expanding global n butanol market, which is expected to witness a CAGR of 5.1 percent to 2020 and reach a size of $9.9 billion. The Asian market for n butanol is the fastest growing in the world with a share of 51.3 percent by volume. Furthermore, at the end of September 2015, Saudi Aramco and German specialty chemicals company Lanxess signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement to create a company to develop, produce, market and distribute synthetic rubber for use in the global tyre industry. The joint venture deal involved Saudi Aramco acquiring a 50 percent stake in Lanxess AG which Arabian Gulf sources says is expected to close down in the first half of 2016 for $1.7 billion. The future Already the Arabian Gulf s biggest oil refining and petrochemicals player, Saudi Arabia s downstream industry is in a reasonably good place to benefit from further expansion in the years to come both at home and further afield. In November 2015, Yousef Al Benyan, SABIC s acting Vice Chairman and Chief Executive indicated that the company will make at least one [overseas] acquisition next year. Bloomberg reports that over the next five years the company is planning to spend between $70 billion and $80 billion on overseas acquisitions and investments. SABIC is currently evaluating between two to four companies in North America and China. Despite the present downturn in China one of Saudi Arabia s largest markets demand there is expected to improve as of 2016. Since the 1980s, the total value of Saudi Arabia s petrochemical exports has grown at a 12 year CARG of 15 percent and similar strong growth can be expected to 2020. There are around 60 petrochemicals projects currently in the pipeline in Jubail and Yanbu. In 2016, Saudi Arabia s petrochemical industry exports are set to reach 100 million tonnes. 9

CASE STUDY Oman moving to centre stage Over the past few years Oman has come to the forefront as a major downstream producer in the Arabian Gulf. The country s expanded Sohar Industrial Port Area is ideally situated to take advantage of the key Asian markets for refined products as well as markets elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa. Importantly, the country is also seen from a regulatory perspective as being investor friendly. So far, it has also succeeded in isolating itself from the political and social unrest that has plagued some of the other countries in the wider region. From the perspective of geographical location, Oman could hardly be better placed to launch itself on to the world stage as a serious downstream player. 10

Case Study Oman s downstream developments include the 230,000 bpd Duqm Refinery and the multi billion dollar Sohar Refinery Improvement Project (SRIP), scheduled for commissioning in 2016. By end November 2015, the Times of Oman reported that as many as seven pre qualified applicants have now been invited to submit tenders for the engineering, procurement and contracting packages (EPC) for Duqm. When completed in late 2017, the refinery is expected to become one of the growth engines for the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZONE). Meanwhile, the SRIP will improve Sohar Refinery s ability to process heavier Omani crude oil and will include five new units. When on stream, current production of fuels, naphtha and propylene will be raised by 70 percent with the product range expanding and for the first time Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) will be able to produce bitumen, primarily used to manufacture asphalt. Orpic is also actively improving its product mix and helping to develop a downstream plastics industry in the sultanate through the development of the Liwa Plastics Project. The complex has a steam cracker, which will process the light ends produced in Orpic s Sohar Refinery and its Aromatics plant. Musab Al Mahruqi, Chief Executive Officer of Orpic, said he anticipates signing $4.5 billion worth of EPCs and financing agreements for the Liwa Plastic Industries Complex before the end of December 2015. The EPC packages will be completed in four years, with plant commissioning expected in 2019. The packages to be signed include a joint venture of Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&i) and Taiwan s CTCI, which will get the contract for a steam cracker and utilities worth about $2.8 billion. Italy s Tecnimont will be awarded the contract for the plastics units. A consortium of South Korea s GS Engineering and Construction and Japan s Mitsui & Co will be awarded a contract for natural gas liquids extraction facilities. India s Punj Lloyd has won a contract for building a pipeline between Fahud and Sohar. The Liwa Plastics Project will be the largest project in the downstream oil and gas industry in Oman and underscores the extent to which the sultanate has moved towards the centre stage of Middle Eastern petrochemical production. Plastics production is forecast to increase by more than 1 million tonnes, giving Orpic a total of 1.4 million tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene production. The future From the perspective of geographical location, Oman could hardly be better placed to launch itself on to the world stage as a serious downstream player. The Duqm SEZONE the seat of the country s petrochemical and refining sector is one of the largest economic zones in the MENA region and indeed, the rest of the world. Its location makes it a gateway for the country to the markets of the Middle East, North and East Africa as well as Asia. It also makes it well suited to be the logistical gateway for the rest of the GCC s petrochemical exports. Over the next two decades, expansion at the port will see volumes reach three million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers; 10 million TEUs of dry bulk and 25 million TEUs of liquid bulk by 2035. Oman also has plans to expand its gas, crude oil and refined products pipeline network. The sultanate is already linked to Qatar, via the Dolphin pipeline, and Iran is building a pipeline to Oman that will link into its LNG exports. Further plans include a pipeline that will connect a planned 200 million barrel crude oil storage terminal at Duqm with existing export infrastructure in the centre of the country. There are also plans for the Muscat Sohar Pipeline Project (MSPP) that is expected to be completed in mid 2017. The project will connect Oman s two operating refineries at Mina al Fahal and Sohar by a 280km pipeline that would enable tanker traffic to be reduced. In November 2015, the Omani pipe manufacturer TMK Gulf International Pipe Industry (TMK GIPI) won the contract to supply the steel pipes. 11

Country breakdown UAE At the end of 2015 the Abu Dhabi based International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) was moving ahead with its plans to build a 200,000 bpd refinery and 1,200,000 tpy polypropylene complex in Fujairah. The EPC is on the verge of being awarded and the facility is expected to come on line late 2016. In November 2015, the Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company TAKREER s Ruwais Refinery Expansion Project was also commissioned with 100% capacity. The project consists of facilities for: distillation; hydro treatment; gas treatment; a catalytic cracking unit; ethylene recovery unit; olefins conversion to produce propylene and several other petrochemical units. It will process 417,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) of Murban crude. The project s completion is a major milestone for the UAE. Meanwhile, Borouge aims to fully ramp up production at its Borouge 3 petrochemicals complex early 2016. The facility comprises of a 1.5 million tpy ethane cracker and derivative plant, including two high density PE (HDPE)/linear low density PE (LLDPE) units with a combined capacity of 1.08 million tpy. Kuwait At the end of 2015 work on Kuwait s 615,000 tpy Al Zour Refinery was firmly underway. The project is set to raise downstream refinery capacity to 1.4 million bpd when it comes on stream in 2020. In that year, ethylene capacity should reach 3.1 million tpy and PE should reach 1.8 million tpy. Kuwait s petrochemicals will be further boosted in 2017 with the completion of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation s (KPC) Olefins 3 petrochemicals project. The country will also be able to capitalise on lower naphtha costs, which puts it at an advantage over its ethane based rivals in the Gulf region. The Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC) project to upgrade the Mina Al Ahmadi Refinery and Mina Abdulla Refinery to produce clean fuels is also making progress. The $10 billion project is expected to be completed in 2018. Qatar The Laffan Refinery 2 and Shell Pearl GTL are landmark projects for this major gas producing country. The Laffan2 expansion will allow for an additional 146,000 bpd to be processed, bringing the refinery s total processing capacity up to 292,000 bpd. In November 2015, the expectation was that it will be fully operational by the third quarter of 2016. Qatar plans to increase its output of chemical and petrochemical products to reach 23 million tonnes by 2020. Last year, the state s petrochemical portfolio consisted of 19 million tonnes of capacity, which earned it $11.5 billion from the manufacture of products such as fertilizers, plastic and fine chemicals. Bahrain In mid September 2015, construction contracts valued at $300 million were signed for a new 115 km pipeline carrying oil from Saudi Aramco s Abqaiq plant on the Saudi mainland to Bahrain. With an increased flow of oil from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain is expected to move ahead on the expansion of the Sitra crude refinery. Currently operating at its full capacity of 260,000 bpd, the Sitra facility is set to undergo a $5 billion upgrade that will boost output to at least 360,000 bpd. According to the Oxford Business Group the front end engineering and design (FEED) components of the project are scheduled to be completed early 2016, with the plant tentatively expected to come on line in 2019. 12

SWOT analysis Strengths The Arabian Gulf sits atop a scarcely tapped bounty of fossil fuels enough to sustain a world class refining and petrochemicals industry for many decades to come The region is ideally located close to the major markets of Europe and Asia Gulf refiners do not have the legacy issues of ageing inefficient plants that are the feature of Europe s industry Governments in the region are fully determined to back their downstream industry Gulf refiners are more likely than elsewhere to weather any future price downturns A comparatively young and increasingly well educated technical workforce should ensure that the Gulf s downstream industry acquires and retains, a strength in depth Opportunities The decline in world crude oil prices is providing the Middle East with a golden opportunity to develop downstream Having effectively been barred for decades from competing in the EU on a level playing field, the expected forthcoming FTA could truly be the game changer for the Arabian Gulf s petrochemical industry Middle East NOCs are increasingly engaging with IOCs to develop the downstream in a way that is leading to a knowledge transfer of historic proportions The Gulf region has to date proved itself to be largely immune to the social unrest that is troubling the rest of the Middle East A low oil price environment presents an opportune moment to eliminate or reduce subsidies on refined products Weaknesses Gulf petrochemical players, like elsewhere in the world, are living in a lower growth, less cost advantaged world Global over capacity is putting a premium on high end petrochemical and refined products. This is necessitating a move away from the Gulf s traditional mainstay of bulk petrochemical products The region s markets remain far from liberalised. Gulf refiners devote an increasing percentage of their refined product output to the subsidised home market This places a major burden on government budgets and downstream companies bottom line The Gulf industry is faced with a skewed pricing regime that results in a sharp differential between non associated and associated gas Threats The growing shortage in the supply of ethane feedstock has hit the region s downstream sector quite hard The rise of US shale has exposed the Gulf s structural feedstock weakness Many Gulf producers are now moving to naphtha The issue of feedstock could yet become more pressing as shifting to naphtha from ethane could soon become more difficult on environmental grounds The region s petrochemical sector is heavily exposed to the vagaries of the Asian market Although the collapse in crude oil prices has given the downstream a boost, continued upstream priced weakness could eventually affect downstream funding plans Competitors in Asia are not standing still and the Gulf s industry will always have to struggle to maintain a competitive edge The case for joint ventures as a means to gain technological expertise is compelling. but the Gulf s downstream producers will need to ensure more equitably based partnerships in the future 13

Event Calendar Egypt Downstream Summit & Exhibition 15-16 February 2016, Cairo, Egypt Abu Dhabi International Downstream 8-10 May 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE 2016 Global Advisory Board and Downstream Leaders Briefing 10 May 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE Iran Downstream Summit & Exhibition 2016 1 September 2016, Iran CEE And Turkey Refining and Petrochemicals 11-13 October 2016, Izmir, Turkey Middle East Energy Golf Day 2016 20 October 2016, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, Abu Dhabi Asian Downstream Week 26-27 October 2016, Singapore Global Petrochemicals Conference 17-19 November 2016, TBC North Africa Downstream Summit 9 January 2017 Oman Refining & Petrochemical Exhibition & Conference 13-15 March 2017, Oman If you have any questions or feedback, please contact Rosie at: r.brewster@theenergyexchange.co.uk 14

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