Open Room - News

The Kuala Lumpur PetroForum Raises the Bar

The 2010 PetroForum for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa took place on March 23rd-25th in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s dynamic capital. With over 200 delegates representing 47 countries from around the world, the event provided the focus for new international partnerships and renewed friendships.

Petronas Dagangan Berhard was the major sponsor for the forum and opened two of its Hyper Stations this morning for an exclusive site visit. Over 90 delegates were treated to a guided tour with the Petronas retail team on hand to answer questions.

The conference set the scene. Mahinda Vallipuram, Managing Director of KPS Asia took the role of Chair and mixing an informal style with a keen eye on time-keeping, he kept the speakers firmly on track. David Barrett opened with a visual overview of fuel retailing followed by William Chua of Singapore-based Smart Energy who examined advances in  CNG Retailing. Up next was Sanjeev Agrawal who was one of the architects of Bharat Petroleum’s online maintenance monitoring service. Kalim Siddiqui, one of Pakistan’s most respected players then gave an overview of the country’s retail market and was followed by Claire Livesey of Circle who explored how sustainability can be integrated into retail design. The final presentation came from Koenraad de Bruyne, COO of Tas’Helat, Saudi Arabia who examined the increasing focus on assuring the fitness-for-purpose of existing assets, especially mature ones.

The event continued over the next two days with the appointments program.  80 oil company executives were matched with 120 supplier delegates for over 900 business meetings – underlining the event’s reputation as the place to network and do business.  Companies included Total Asia Pacific, Petronas, Byco Petroleum, Pakistan, Ghana Oil, Libya Oil Egypt, Tas’Helat, Gulf Jordan, Engen Petroleum, and Bharat Petroleum – a compelling mix of MOCs and NOCs, and all with real potential for business.  The impressive line up of supplier companies came from as far afield as Bertotto Boglione from Argentina to Albert Smith Signs from Australia.

Feedback has been exceptional; the event had been business-like and productive and provided the focus for hundreds of renewed relationships and the beginning of many new partnerships. Reed Leighton, Managing Director of Leighton O’Brien commented: “this event has been outstanding. I have ten proposals to write immediately – and plenty more leads to follow up”. 

And from Chris Cooper, Gilbarco Veeder-Root: “Another well executed forum. Where you differentiate yourselves from your competition is the level of people that attend the PetroForum – serious people, eager to do business”

Oil company delegates were equally positive. Kenneth Teo of TOTAL Asia Pacific Pte Ltd summed up the feedback: “in terms of productivity, this event is simply excellent. We have met all the leading suppliers – and have been introduced to some interesting new companies. There is nothing else like it here in Asia”. 

Further endorsement came from Lini Kazim of Shell Asia Retail Network Development: “The ‘speed-dating concept was amazing as it provided sufficient time for the delegates to become familiar with each other’s offers and to conclude at the end of each session whether there was potential for synergistic collaboration. The fun didn’t stop there; after the links were established, delegates had ample time to carry over their discussions over coffee, lunch and dinner.”

After lunch, the organisers laid on a VIP tour to the Petronas Twin Towers. A final word of thanks came from Fiona Horan of OpenRoom: “The support for this PetroForum from oil companies and suppliers alike is immensely rewarding. We’d like to thank everyone for giving up their time to be here and we’re looking forward to continuing our association with each and every delegate through our events and via our media partner, www.petrolplaza.com".

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