Capping a 33-year career with Saudi Aramco, executives joined recently to bid farewell to outgoing executive director of Industrial Services Amer A. Al-Sulaim.

The shifting sands of the Arabian Peninsula hide more than their fair share of secrets. Once, flourishing lakes teeming with life lie buried beneath scorching dunes. Even entire cities have been swallowed by the gaping maw of the desert. “Searching for and finding one of them is one of the great adventures of a lifetime,” said John Faulhaber, at a recent meeting of the Arabian Natural History Association “Just reading about it is exciting.”

Saudi Aramco industrial facilities often take a beating. Fouling and scaling reduce heat transfer in exchanger tubes and cause corrosion in pipes. That can lead to a loss of production as unplanned shutdowns become necessary to fix leaking equipment. Standard methods of chemical treatment reduce fouling and corrosion, but their effects can be limited. So Riyadh Refinery is pioneering a new technology by the Merus Company.

A new range of Zipex lubricants was launched in Dubai today, as a result of a joint venture between Indonesian company Pertamina, the biggest producer and marketer of mineral lubricants in Southeast Asia and SK Energy, the biggest Korean producer and marketer of synthetic lubricants, in association with the Flow Trading LLC, the local partner.

Vela International Marine Ltd.’s Almizan Star, the fourth of six very large crude carriers ordered from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, entered service Wednesday after a naming ceremony at the South Korean shipyard.

The Ministry of Oil of the Republic of Iraq and a wholly owned affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell plc (‘Shell’) signed a Heads of Agreement that sets the commercial principles to establish an incorporated joint venture (the ‘JV’) between the South Gas Company and Shell for the processing and marketing of all associated natural gas produced in the Governorate of Basra in Southern Iraq, an area covering some 19,000 square kilometers.

Members of the Dhahran Geological Society got an update on the South Rub’ al-Khali Co. (SRAK), a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell from Ceri Powell, now vice president of Strategy for Shell International.

KazMunaiGas (KMG), the national oil company of Kazakhstan today announced its intention to establish a major presence at Caspian Energy Hub (CEH), the fourth in a series of energy cities conceived by leading GCC Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House.  In a move that underlines the heavy momentum building on the CEH initiative, KMG will also be calling on all foreign energy companies to follow their lead as Kazakhstan bids to double domestic oil production and triple gas production by 2015.

Qatargas unveiled today an interactive exhibition which is open to the public and will explain the process by which liquefied natural gas (LNG) is created. Located on the Corniche, the exhibition will welcome visitors in Doha through April 9th. Under the patronage of H.E. Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Deputy Premier and Minister for Energy and Industry, Faisal Al Suwaidi, Chief Executive Officer of Qatargas Operating Company Limited, officially opened the exhibition on Doha’s Corniche.

Qatargas recently completed a historical loading at Atlantic LNG’s Point Fortin terminal on the island of Trinidad in the West Indies.

Today Qatargas installed its new liquefied natural gas berth 5 topsides module at Ras Laffan Port using marine transportation and installation vessel. The module was fabricated at Adyard in Mussaffah, United Arab Emirates and sailed to Qatar following load-out. The module weighs approximately 1000 tonnes. It was lifted into place on the Berth 5 marine platform using two cranes working in tandem, which each have a load capacity 900 tonnes.

Today during a brief ceremony held at the Qatar Tennis Federation, Qatargas officially handed over a cheque to Qatar Tennis Federation. This contribution will grant Qatargas the official bronze sponsorship of the Sony Ericsson Championships Doha 2008, organized by Qatar Tennis federation.

Qatargas is aiming to persuade more drivers and passengers to wear their seat belts, with a ride on its “convincer’’ crash simulator at the Villagio Mall, Doha from 17 to 23 August.