Wee, who is also a member of the OTC Asia advisory committee, said the conference, themed "Meeting Challenges for Asia's Growth", is timely as Asia is expected to be the centre for energy demand. Asian economies are expected to increase their capital expenditure in oil and gas exploration and production to meet domestic demand for energy resources.
He said upstream spending is expected to rise to US$323 billion (RM1.06 billion) in 2016 in the Asia Pacific region from US$238 billion in 2012, of which US$169 billion was for capital expenditure and US$69 billion operational expenditure.
Wee said the energy demand in Southeast Asia has expanded by two-and-a-half times since 1990, a rate of growth that is among the fastest in the world. He pointed out that the population in Asia is growing and more people are moving into the cities, which is leading to high energy demand.
The conference to be held from March 25 to 28 is expected to attract more than 10,000 engineers, technicians, executives, operators, scientists and managers from the offshore exploration and production industry from 61 countries.
Wee said the event is an avenue for the industry to share knowledge on current best practices, offshore resources and present cutting-edge technologies that can help advance the region's oil and gas services sector.
Petronas is the corporate supporting organisation for OTC Asia 2014. More than 200 industry exhibiting companies are expected at OTC Asia. Participating oil majors include Aker Solutions, Baker Hughes, ConocoPhilips, Gazprom, Halliburton, Shell, Subsea 7, WestStar Aviation, Technip, Pemex, PTT Exploration and Production Co and Weatherford.
