8th MIDDLE EAST BITUMEN/ASPHALT 2017 Hosted by:

Challenges & Growth Prospects in the Road Ahead for the

MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA & SOUTH-ASIA 30 April - 2 May 2017, Dubai

EVENT SUMMARY

Held Under the Patronage of: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice

President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai

Official Opening by: His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman

of the Supreme Council for Energy, President of the Dubai Civil

Aviation Authority, Chairman & Chief Executive, Emirates Group

The 8th

Middle East Bitumen/Asphalt Conference 2017 (MEB 2017), held in conjunction with Middle

East Petroleum and Gas Week Events 2017 and organized by the Conference Connection Inc, was

successfully held on 30 April – 2 May 2017 at the Grand Hyatt Dubai.

For the first time, MEB 2017 was co-located with the region’s longest running annual oil and gas conference -

the 25th Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference (MPGC). Hosted by ENOC, both events had common

official opening with Ministerial Addresses and Keynotes, coffee breaks, lunches and conference dinner,

welcoming over 450 participants from more than 200 companies in 50 countries.

The attendees and speakers engaged in in-depth discussions and dynamic interactive exchange of views during

the day. Come evening they were treated to a feast during the MEB 2017 Gala Dinner hosted by ENOC.

Click: https://photos.shutterfly.com/story/id/30142018591

His Excellency Saif Al Falasi,

Emirates National Oil Company

(ENOC)

Dr Fereidun Fesharaki, FGE Mr Burhan Al Hashemi,

Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC)

The Official Opening featured:

Welcome Remarks: His Excellency Saif Al Falasi, Group Chief Executive Officer,

Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), Dubai, UAE

Dr Fereidun Fesharaki, Chairman, FGE

Opening Remarks: Mr Burhan Al Hashemi, Managing Director, ENOC Marketing, Emirates National Oil

Company Limited (ENOC) LLC, UAE

Extensive Networking @ MEB 2017

Pre-conference Opening Reception

Exclusive Networking Coffee Breaks, Luncheons, Meet & Greet and Gala Dinner

Expanded and Enhanced Exhibition @ MEB 2017

Hear what the delegates have to say about MEB 2017:

“It was my first time attending this conference and could meet good number of suppliers/shippers for my

business which is shipping” – Mr Hossein Najipour, Hormoz Marine Shipping Co & Int’l Transport Co

“MEB 2017 has been excellent and over the last few years it covers many wide ranging topics,

participated by delegates from US to NZ; moreover it was very well organized.” – Mr Abhijit Upadhye,

General Manager - Technical, Richmond Mercantile Ltd FZC

“Many thanks to you and the rest of the team at Conference Connection for letting me take part in your

Asphalt conference this year. I thought it was very well run and top-notch in every respect. It was

certainly enjoyable working with each of you and I would welcome the opportunity to take part in any

future conferences where you think my expertise in downstream petroleum markets may be of value.” –

Mr Tod McGreevy, Vice President, Muse, Stancil & Co

“The conference was very well organized. The speakers for Africa, India, and ME that covered Bitumen

were really excellent and very useful. Congratulations on well-organized program.” – Dr Hussain

Bahia, Director, Modified Asphalt Research Centre (MARC), University of Wisconsin-Madison

“As usual there were very interesting presentations and persons we met, for future cooperation and

work. I appreciate the organization of such events and congratulate you and your team for the excellent

job done.” – Dr Daniel Llort, Consultant, Roads Department, Ministry of Infrastructure Development UAE

“This year was particularly interesting in terms of the technical content and the pace of new technology

development across the GCC.” – Mr Gareth Evans, VP – Group Technical & Operations, CyTech

International

“There are topics related to current trends and a lot of technical session, also networking” – Mr G

Abhilash, ABN Petroleum Trading LLC

“A gathering of experts” – Mr Glynn Holleran, Director, AAT Ltd NZ

“Excellent platform for networking & knowledge” – Mr Gupta Subhash, Chairman and Managing

Director, Yash International

“An excellent opportunity to meet bitumen industry commercial and technical community and network

with them” – Mr Ashoka Siriwardena, Chairman & Managing Director, Bitumix (Private) Ltd

“It is really a good conference meeting people” – Mr Hikmat N Osman, Sales & Marketing Manager,

Ghantout Trading Establishment

Highlights of MEB 2017

For the first time, MEB 2017 was co-located with the region’s longest running annual oil and gas

conference - the 25th Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference (MPGC) with over 450 participants

from more than 200 companies in 50 countries.

Participating countries at MEB 2017 included UAE, Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South

Africa, East Africa, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Germany, Belgium, Prague, Switzerland,

Netherlands, UK, Italy, Canada, USA, New Zealand amongst others.

17 presentations were featured on the MEB 2017 agenda based on the theme: Challenges & Growth

Prospects in the Road Ahead for the Middle East, Africa and South-Asia.

MEB 2017 was chaired by Mr Tod McGreevy, Vice President, Muse, Stancil & Co, USA on Day 1 who

engaged the audience in lively discussions. Day 2 was chaired by Prof Otakar Vacin, Head, Department

of Transportation Systems, Czech Technical University, with in-depth coverage on technical trends and

pace of new technology developments across GCC.

A new Mobile App was launched to provide every delegate:

o instant access to forum information

o Networking by sending messages and setting up meetings with fellow delegates

o Live polling with real time results

o Evaluating speakers and the forum

o Uploading forum photos taken on smart phones to add to timeline of the event

A specially designed networking session - Meet and Greet (M&G) was introduced giving every delegate

the best opportunity to meet every conference participant!

Conference Connection organized a pre-conference workshop titled “Asphalt Mixture Design Methods in

the Middle East – Marshall to Superpave and Influence of Modified Bitumen” on 30 April 2017 led by Dr

Hussain Bahia, Director, Modified Asphalt Research Center (MARC), University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The conference started off with an Opening Reception on 30 April where all delegates enjoyed

scrumptious local hors d’oeuvre and drinks as well as a conducive opportunity for networking and catching

up with fellow delegates.

Exhibition space had been expanded by 80% with new layout and setup. With over 15 exhibiting

companies, MEB 2017 enjoyed high quality visitor traffic at the exhibition area with first class one-on-one

meeting opportunities with the industry’s key players.

High Level Support from Dubai Government - MEB 2017 enjoys the patronage of His Highness Sheikh

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai

as well as Official Opening by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the

Supreme Council for Energy, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, and Chairman & Chief

Executive of Emirates Group.

ENOC hosted the MEB 2017 Gala Dinner on 1 May 2017 for all delegates where they wind down the

evening, and were treated to a sumptuous dinner and entertainment at the Grand Hyatt.

Delegate feedback have indicated that the event has provided excellent networking opportunities, a wide

spread of topics, high calibre speakers and quality presentations. The delegate response rated the premium

networking opportunities as their key reason for attending.

Industry support from host and corporate sponsors which included Host: ENOC, Platinum Sponsor: Al

Jaber Bitumen LLC and Gold Sponsor: Binas Energy.

Other supporting organizations, exhibitors and media sponsors at MEB 2017 included OPEX, Al Jaber

Bitumen LLC, Asphalt & Bitumen West Company, Binas Energy, Fara Shimi Rooz Co, Lucobit/ Raadan

Nirou Zagros, Richmond Mercantile, as well as Platts, The Oil and Gas Year, Universal Solutions

S.A.E.(Gulfoilandgas.com) and Worldoils. These companies provided the conference with a good delegate

base of senior executives and synergistic client relationships.

MEB 2017 Host, Sponsors & Exhibitors

Platinum Sponsor Gold Sponsor

Host

We would like to thank all delegates, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, media sponsors and guests for making our

8th

Middle East Bitumen/Asphalt Conference a success! We look forward to seeing you at our 9th

Middle

East Bitumen Conference in 2018!

Mark your Calendar for our 2nd Iran Bitumen/Asphalt Forum 2017 (IrB 2017) taking place for the second

time in Tehran, Iran on 5-6 September 2017. For more info, please visit:

https://www.cconnection.org/events/irb2017/

Should you be interested to present a paper, be a sponsor or exhibitor or participant at this conference, please

contact us at abby@cconnection.org / alycia@cconnection.org

ORGANISED BY :

For enquiries, please contact:

8th Middle East Bitumen/Asphalt Secretariat 2017 135 Middle Road #05-01 Bylands Building Singapore 188975 Tel : +65 6338 0064 Fax: +65 6338 4090 Email: alycia@cconnection.org

Exhibitors