Oil Minister opens 7th Global HSE Conference

Manama, Sept. 30(BNA): The 7th edition of the Global Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Conference and Exhibition opened today under the theme "Efficiency, Flexibility and Sustainability". Oil Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa inaugurated the event which will run until Thursday (October3), in the presence of more than 800 participants, executives and senior officials from various companies specialised in the oil and gas sector, as well as interested professionals. The event is organised by ICONEX an international event management company in coordination with the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) and with the support of Saudi Aramco, Bahrain National Gas Company (BANAGAS) and many local, regional and international companies. The opening ceremony was attended by Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan, Interior Ministry Undersecretary Shaikh Nasser bin Abdulrahman Al-Khalifa and other senior officials. Addressing the opening ceremony, the minister stressed the importance of the specialised conference which, he described, as a good opportunity to present to debate key topics related to health, safety and environment and the latest developments in this field, especially with the presence of a large number of specialized speakers who will enrich the event with their ideas, knowledge and expertise. He underscored the importance of health, safety and environment for the development of human resources, stressing the crucial role of the human factor in the production process. He pointed out the oil companies affiliated with the National Oil and Gas Authority seek to monitor annual budgets for good training and to keep abreast the workforce on the latest programmess related to human health and occupational safety. "A number of oil companies affiliated to the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) have received a number of international awards granted by health, safety and environmental authorities", he said. He commended the high performance of the oil companies, in implementing the highest health, safety and environmental standards, citing in particular Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas), Bapco and Tatweer Petroleum which implemented key systems to provide a secure and safe environment to boost production, protect facilities and promote human resources. He also commended the Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) which achieved 8353 days of work without accidents causing lost time, that is the equivalent of 30 million hours of work, which represents a great achievement. Oil Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa also inaugurated a photo expo in the presence of oil companies’ chief executive officers. More than world 50 companies are taking part in the 2019 edition, including Saudi Aramco, Bapco, Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC),Tatweer Petroleum, Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas), Alba, Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), Total, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health and the Supreme Council for the Environment (SCE).