KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is poised to become a regional oil and gas hub riding on its position as the number one country in Asean for energy transition. 

According to Informa Markets Malaysia Sdn Bhd, this is reflected through the strong international interest in Oil and Gas Asia (OGA) 2023 which translates into growing attention on the country. 

The 19th edition of Oil and Gas Asia (OGA) is set to kick off from Sept 13-15 to serve as a platform for business development and growth from energy transition in the Asia Pacific region.  

The event is organised by Informa in collaboration with Energy Industries Council  (EIC) which joined for the first time as conference partner, to bolster more conversations on accelerating low carbon pathways and unleashing new potentials within the region. 

One of the highlights of the three-day event is the international pavilions from China, Germany, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

OGA 2023 is anticipated to welcome 25,000 attendees from 52 countries to meet 2,000 exhibitors and brands, spanning across seven halls at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. 

Informa co-chairman Tan Sri Mohd Azumi Mohamed said among the sponsors for this year's OGA are ABB, AEA Engineering, Aveva, Blast Abrasives Supply, EXS Synergy, HHA Associates, IRED, Italian Trade Agency, MATCOR, McDermott, TNF Energy, Torr Energy, Wellpro Group and Yokogawa.

"As the largest B2B event of its kind in Southeast Asia, it will be the perfect platform for all stakeholders to meet and discuss face-to-face the various aspects of oil, gas, energy, and petrochemicals engineering innovation and what lies ahead," he said at the OGA 2023 press conference. 

The event will also feature a high-profile conference including a leadership roundtable in partnership with EIC which covers topics such as technological solutions and energy transition. 

EIC regional director (Asia Pacific) Azman Nasir said the leadership roundtable will be supported by United Kingdom Department for Business and Trade, British-Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Scottish International Development, Malaysian Oil, Gas and Energy Services Council (MOGSC), Malaysian Petrochemicals Association (MPA) as well as regional

and local energy stakeholders.

Another highlight involves he EIC to co-locate the council's annual conference, EIC APAC Energy Conversations at OGA. 

"This year as part of OGA 2023 we will have 28 speakers in seven panel sessions on September 14 and 15. 

"The theme for the conference is making the energy transition realistic in Asia Pacific with the goal to decarbonise oil and gas, with panel experts likely to deliberate on how they plan to reduce carbon emissions in their respective organisations," he said. 

The conference will also conduct one to one business matching sessions.

The council expects to arrange more than 200 introductory short meetings between different companies. 

Informa senior event manager Derrick Yeow said the event is set to generate more than RM200 million business negotiations. This will be more than RM117 million achieved in 2022. 

"We are seeing increasing and encouraging interest in the event this year from international stakeholders such as Italy, China, Singapore, German, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"What's different this year is that we got the business matching session, and fully recyclable exhibition stands, SPEAK OGA open dialogue sessions that focus on different topics such as the Asean energy landscape agenda, the 4th Industrial Revolution and downstream petrochemicals," he said.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/2023/08/942702/malaysia-be-asias-og-hub