More than 50 nations gather at Dubai World Trade Centre to address mature asset optimization, digital transformation, and cross-border energy resilience.
DUBAI, Sept 30, 2026 : Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, opened the Gas & Oil Technology Conference and Exhibition (GOTECH 2026) at the Dubai World Trade Centre, inaugurating a three-day summit focused on leveraging artificial intelligence and clean-energy infrastructure to safeguard global supply lines.
Organized by Dragon Oil—the upstream exploration and production subsidiary of ENOC Group—in collaboration with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the conference convenes senior energy ministers, executives, and technical specialists from over 50 countries through October 1.
Following the opening ceremony, Sheikh Ahmed toured the exhibition floor accompanied by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and Chairman of ENOC Group and Dragon Oil, and Abdulrahman Al Saleh, Director-General of the Dubai Finance Department.
The gathering takes place against shifting macroeconomic conditions and supply-chain pressures, paired with long-term forecasts indicating global energy demand will expand more than 20% by 2050.
Delivering the keynote address, Al Tayer outlined the United Arab Emirates’ domestic progress in diversifying its baseline generation capacity. Clean power accounted for 32.4% of total electricity generated across the UAE in 2025, tracking toward a federal target of 35% by 2031. Within the emirate of Dubai, clean energy generation capacity is set to cross 24% by the end of 2026, advancing toward municipal milestones of 36% by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.
Upstream operators across the country are moving rapidly to integrate high-performance computing and machine learning into frontline operations. Al Tayer highlighted the Stargate UAE initiative, an ambitious 5-gigawatt AI infrastructure campus designed to supply enterprise-grade compute power to industrial and energy operators.
Dragon Oil Chief Executive Officer and Conference Chair Abdulkarim Ahmed Al Maazmi confirmed that modernizing brownfield assets and deploying AI across subsurface analysis remain primary corporate objectives.
The operator is currently managing three major international initiatives across its upstream footprint:
- In Turkmenistan, work is proceeding on a Centralized Power Generation and Compression project intended to eliminate routine flaring and upgrade field electrification.
- In Egypt’s Gulf of Suez, joint-venture entity Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO) has deployed high-resolution Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) seismic surveying to image complex reservoir structures and identify untapped pay zones.
- In southern Iraq, formal approvals have been granted for Phase II engineering at the onshore Block 9 concession, clearing the path for expanded surface handling facilities.
Senior corporate leadership participated in the opening CEO Plenary Session, which included ADNOC Onshore Chief Executive Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Alebri, Sharjah National Oil Corporation Chief Executive Khamis Abdullah Al Mazrouei, Oil SERV Kuwait Chairperson Sara Akbar, and United Energy Group Chairman Song Yu. Discussions focused on optimizing mature reservoir recovery, drilling cost rationalization, and deploying automated monitoring systems.
Parallel technical tracks through Thursday cover carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), autonomous pipeline inspection drones, reservoir engineering, and practical interventions designed to extract commercial value from marginal fields across Central Asia and the Middle East.
