MANAMA: The ability of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) to detect defects before failure is of paramount importance in the oil and gas industry.
Speaking at the opening of the fourth Middle East Non-Destructive Testing conference and exhibition, Oil and Gas Affairs Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza said NDT was critical to ensure the safe, reliable and efficient operation of process facilities.
This is the only way the Gulf region can sustain oil and gas production challenges as equipment reliability is critical to meeting the demands of the market, he said.
"The theme of this conference "Advanced NDT techniques: Challenges and Implementation" is clearly very precise and timely and therefore should meet this very crucial requirement in the oil and gas industry," he said.
"The global petroleum industry has been encountering numerous challenges with an ever-escalating increase in the oil and gas needs all over the world.
"Equipment in these industries need to be inspected and upgraded constantly, and it justifies the need for skilled and dedicated professionals to upgrade their knowledge from time to time, to ensure that the plants and pipelines are fit for service, to sustain the production and delivery of petroleum, and to foresee and prevent product supply disruptions."
"It has been observed that a lot of effort has been put into the development of specialists in NDT as well as plant inspection, to improve facilities in this field to meet the worldwide demand for oil and gas." he said.
"In the years to come, it will depend on these specialist personnel to develop and implement solutions to the challenges that arise in these extensive networks of oil, petroleum and refining facilities."
A number of inspection and NDT activities are now being outsourced to local and regional service companies to help in the development of these plants, and to build upon the combined strengths of organizations which include large companies like Saudi Aramco and Bahrain Petroleum Company, " he added.
"The exhibition at this event shall provide just the right platform to integrate the needs of both the service providers and the clients, which in essence are the oil and gas companies in the region.
The conference and exhibition, organised by the Saudi Arabian section of the American Society of Non-Destructive Testing and the Bahrain Society of Engineers runs at the Gulf International Convention centre until Wednesday.
