This year’s exhibition coincided in time with several events in Kazakhstan’s oil industry - the 110th anniversary of the Kazakhstan oil and the 100th anniversary of one of the very first certified oil workers, a famous public figure Safi Utebayev.

During 110 years, the oil and gas industry has made a giant leap - especially after Kazakhstan became independent. Today, oil revenues make a significant part of cash and budget incomes of Kazakhstan. For example, KazMunaiGas alone provides 16 per cent of the national budget revenues and 15 per cent of the country’s GDP. Oil revenues are accumulated in the National Fund which is an important stabiliser in the economy of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan currently has proven recoverable oil reserves of 4.8 million tons, which corresponds to 3% of total global reserves. This places Kazakhstan amongst the world’s top ten countries for proven recoverable oil reserves. In the next five to ten years, as oil and gas outputs keep growing, the role of the oil and gas sector in the national development will undoubtedly be increasing. At the same time, experts predict a renewal of economic growth worldwide, which, naturally, will lead to increased energy consumption.

In this respect, the importance of KIOGE can hardly be exaggerated. In his welcome letter to KIOGE 2009 exhibitors, Sauat MYNBAYEV, Kazakhstan Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, said as follows, “The exhibition has already acquired a status of the largest and most respected event in this industry - not only in Kazakhstan but all over the Central Asian region. And this is yet another indicator of the success achieved by Kazakhstan guided by President Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev”.

Over the past 17 years, KIOGE has evolved from a sensation of the former Soviet republics to an annual forum of an international scale. In this time, there have been over 6500 exhibitors, more than 120,000m² of exhibition space has been used, and over 10,000 people have attended the conference.

As always, this year’s exhibition and conference will be held at a high level - it expects heads of foreign ministries, ambassadors plenipotentiary and extraordinary, representatives of diplomatic visions accredited in Kazakhstan, and government officials, among them Sauat MYNBAYEV, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kairgeldy KABYLDIN, President of KazMunaiGaz National Company JSC, Her Excellency Ms Maria van der HOEVEN, Minister for Economic Affairs, Netherlands, Daniel PONEMAN, Deputy Secretary of Energy, US Department of Energy, David LAMMY, Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property, UK and many others.

KIOGE 2009 exhibitors include about 520 exhibiting companies from 30 countries, as well as a few thousands of representatives of science, production and management from all areas of oil, oil processing, petrochemical and gas industries, oil transportation, environment specialists, representatives of humanitarian and social areas, and government bodies.

To date, the following companies have confirmed their participation: KazMunaiGas National Company JSC, Karachaganak Petroleum Operating, KazGiproNefteTrans, KazPetroMash, NIPI NefteGaz, MunaiGasEngineering, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, B.V. Chevron, CNPC, Invensys, Innovation Norway, Inpex, Gazprom, Lukoil, NCOC, SOCAR, Total, national groups from Canada, China, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Finland and UK.

As always, the event is organised by the Kazakhstan exhibition company Iteca and ITE International Group (UK) with partners from Russia, Germany, Turkey, China and other countries. Since its very inception, KIOGE has been held under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan, the Almaty City Akimat, and KazMunaiGas National Company JSC, and with their annual participation. KIOGE 2009 is supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the European Business Association of Kazakhstan, the Delegation of the European Commission and foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Kazakhstan. Informational support was provided by more than 100 Kazakhstan and international mass media.

The organisers have prepared an extensive agenda which includes events important for a broad circle of oil and gas specialists. For instance, the exhibition will traditionally include a job fair. HR and recruitment consultants will be searching for people willing to work with regional and international oil and gas companies. Target candidates include young oil and gas specialists who have graduated from universities and completed specialised courses, as well as experienced oil and gas professionals.

This year, special attention will be given to two valuable resources, without which life on Earth would not be possible: water and energy. For the first time, KIOGE will include the “Water and Energy: Discover the World of H2O and Watts!” exhibition, which is organised by the Kazakhstan-German University in pavilion 11. The aim of the project is to educate young people in Kazakhstan on using water and energy sensibly at a time when there is a global deficit these resources. The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Ministry of Ecology of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

KIOGE Conference will take place on 7-8 October 2009 at the InterContinental Almaty - The Ankara in Kazakhstan. More than 1,000 delegates will participate in the conference. The conference agenda includes reports by managers of a number of oil and gas companies. Special attention will be given to the inclusion of Kazakhstan as a supplier of Caspian hydrocarbons to Eurasian markets. This will become, at the very least, a factor meriting more careful attention than previously.

KIOGE has become a mouthpiece for a comprehensive, constructive, detailed and professional discussion of ways to develop the oil and gas industry in Kazakhstan and the Caspian countries. The exhibition and conference aim to reflect the main development trends in the oil and gas industry at the current stage, show realities and determine growth prospects for the Kazakhstan oil and gas market, which is critical during the crisis period.

Iteca LLP is a partner of ITE Group Plc International Exhibition Company in Kazakhstan and Central Asia countries.

ITE Group Plc is an amalgamation of companies and agencies dealing in organising trade exhibitions and conferences functioning all over the world, with its headquarters in London. The company has been annually holding about 150 events in 17 world countries. ITE Group Plc maiden project in Kazakhstan was KIOGE 1993 - Kazakhstan International Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference. The successful implementation of the oil and gas forum provided for incorporation of Iteca in 1995.

Currently, Iteca offices operate in Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Karaganda and Bishkek. Iteca is well-known in the Central Asian Region as the leading organiser of trade show events. Exhibition and conference topics cover all sectors of economy.

The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI, www.ufinet.org) awarded UFI Approved Event signs to nine Iteca exhibitions: KIOGE (Oil and Gas), KazBuild (Construction), MiningWorld Central Asia (Mining Equipment, Mining and Concentration of Ores and Minerals), WorldFood Kazakhstan (Food Industry), AstanaBuild (Construction), KITEL (Telecommunications and Computer Technologies), KITF (Tourism and Travel), and KIHE (Public Health Care), KazBuild Spring (Construction).

UFI Approved Event Sign attests to a high level of organisation of events, their business development and industry shaping facilitation, and also confirms the statistics veracity. UFI Association performs certification based on annual exhibition events audit outturns. ITE/Iteca Kazakhstan exhibition events audit was carried out by RussCom IT Systems, an audit company of Russia.

Annually, Iteca organises about forty international exhibitions and conferences in Kazakhstan (Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Aktau, and Karaganda) and Kyrgyz Republic (Bishkek).