Omani students attend World Gas Conference

As many as 11 students from the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), sponsored by Oman LNG, left Oman yesterday to attend the prestigious gathering of experts, operators and other professionals meeting at World Gas Conference (WGC) being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from June 4 to 8. The conference is expected to offer the students a new, more hands-on perspective of the operations of the global gas industry, complementing the mainly theoretical insight taught at schools. At the WGC, the students will attend the conference’s Youth Programme 'Nurturing Future Generations in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)'. The Youth Programme is geared towards deepening the students’ interest in pursuing core academic disciplines directly related to development of the oil and gas industry. All but one student are pursuing their majors in engineering-related disciplines. The 11 students are: Saif Mohamed Saif al Hosni (Chemical Engineering); As'ad Nasser Khalfan al Mashrafi (Chemical Engineering); Rashid Musabah Sulaiman al Balushi (Petroleum Engineering); Husain Ali al Lawati; (Petroleum Engineering); Said Aamer Moahmed al Hajri (Mechanical Engineering); Said Majid Said al Tooqi (Electrical Engineering); Mohamed al Barwani (Physics); Tahani Mohammed al Sariri (Mathematics and Statistics); Hafsa al Abri (Chemistry); Maryam al Belushi (Chemistry) and Aish al Yahyai (Art and Social Science). Aish al Yahyai is attending as the students’ media liaison and publicity focal person and will work with the students and journalists attending the conference to cover the latest developments in the world’s gas industry. “I see this as an opportunity that will open the doors for many of us who are undergraduates in fields closely related to the workings of the oil and gas industry, which is a dynamic industry in Oman and many parts of the world. I believe this conference will show us some of the latest technologies in the industry and expose us to the required skills needed in the job market,”said Said al Tooqi before departing Muscat for Kuala Lumpur. Dr Salim bin Hamoud al Harthi, Dean’s Assistant for Training and Community Service at SQU’s College of Science, speaking on the event commented that the programme will “enhance the students training and development and give them good exposure through interaction with other participants. In addition, it provokes the team working spirit of the students. I thank Oman LNG for championing this initiative which will add great value to our students”. Organised by the International Gas Union (IGU), the WGC is held every three years and invites key speakers and specialists within the international energy industry to exchange ideas over the direction, development, emerging issues and challenges in the global gas industry. Oman LNG is a joint venture company with shareholders as follows: Government of Oman 51 per cent, Shell Gas BV 30 per cent, Total SA 5.54 per cent, Korea LNG 5 per cent, Mitsubishi Corporation 2.77 per cent, Mitsui and Co 2.77 per cent, Partex (Oman) 2 per cent and Itochu Corporation 0.92 per cent. The company, Oman’s foremost liquefied natural gas project, is the Sultanate’s leading investor in corporate social responsibility with a dedicated social investment fund from which the it initiates and supports a large, yet growing, portfolio of government and private sector-led programmes including education, healthcare and infrastructure, for the benefit of the Sultanate and its people.