World Heavy Oil Congress secured for Aberdeen in 2012 09/06/10

The City of Aberdeen and Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) are delighted to announce it has been selected as the venue for the prestigious 2012 World Heavy Oil Congress. The congress is expected to attract 1000 international delegates; including energy industry leaders and investors, to promote and discuss heavy oil technology development.

 Councillor John Stewart, Leader of Aberdeen City Council is pleased with the announcement. "This is a crucial win for Aberdeen, reinforcing the city's position as a global hub for energy technology. The event is estimated to have an economic impact of £2.3 million to the area."

Brian Horsburgh, Managing Director of AECC states, "We are delighted with this prestigious conference win, which reinforces Aberdeen's status as a key location for international energy conferences."

 The World Heavy Oil Congress is the world's leading unconventional heavy oil conference and exhibition.  The event has previously been held in Beijing, China and Margarita Island, Venezuela with the next congress taking place in Edmonton, Canada in 2011. The congress will take place at AECC from 10^th-13^th September 2012 and will provide participants the opportunity to meet with the entire global supply chain of the unconventional heavy oil industry. It will also provide an excellent opportunity for Aberdeen companies to obtain up-to-date research on heavy oil technology.

"Global reserves of conventional oil are on a rapid decline, while abundant unconventional reserves endow heavy oil production with great exploration potential and broad development prospects.  World Heavy Oil Congress is the premier forum focused on unconventional oil, and more specifically, the business opportunities, technologies, economics and environmental impact from its development," says Wes Scott, Business Development Director of dmg::events, the producers of World Heavy Oil Congress. 

Although the North Sea heavy oil reserves are estimated to be less than ten billion barrels of oil (source www.heavyoilinfo.com), its importance to the global energy scene is immense.  The global heavy oil industry will look to participants of North Sea drilling for technical expertise and lessons learned.

Wes Scott continues, "We are extremely pleased to be located in Aberdeen for 2012. With the city and region's rich history of offshore drilling in harsh environments, using technologies and strategies that are not unlike those used in heavy oil, we are proud to be bringing this event to a city considered to be the oil capital of Europe.  With the City of Aberdeen, we look forward to providing an excellent platform to promote international investment, and shining a light on Aberdeen's petroleum industry technical expertise."

 ENDS

Notes for Editors

Councillor John Stewart and the AECC Sales team will be on the VisitScotland stand F380 at IMEX, Frankfurt from 26^th - 27^th May 2010 and are available for interviews.

For more information on World Heavy Oil Congress go towww.worldheavyoilcongress.com

 Issued by Louise Duthie, PR & Marketing Executive, Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. For further information please contact Louise on 01224 330430 or e-mail lduthie@aecc.co.uk. For further information about Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre please call 01224 824824 or visit www.aecc.co.uk