Only a few weeks left before International Petroleum (IP) Week 2017 is upon us.

The programme is now set, although, in all fairness, there is always going to be last minute rearrangements due to travel, availability and other difficulties. But this year, our main challenge so far has been in fitting in so many relevant presentations.

This is a nice problem to have, caused, I believe, by several factors: first the success of last year’s IP Week, second the global political scene and associated energy policy decisions and finally my desire to address “who really decides the future of our industry”. This last factor led us to invite not only NOCs, IOCs, OPEC, ministers, government bodies and regulators of course, but also financial institutions, Climate Change key players, traders and new technology gurus.  And we have been able to gather an impressive line-up of speakers from all these organisations – notably Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC’s Secretary General, Dr Hoesung Lee, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, H.E. Dr Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister for Energy and Industry, State of Qatar, and Igor Sechin, Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, Gretchen Watkins, Chief Executive Officer, Maersk Oil and Saif Humaid Al Falasi FEI, Group Chief Executive Officer, Emirates National Oil Company.

So the agenda is a lot fuller. Under the theme of “Shaping the industry’s future”, we will be looking at the forces impacting the supply and demand scene, identify the key players in this new world and their response to the challenges they face. A significant portion of the programme will address climate change. We will also receive input from disruptive technology experts as well as new financial players, see how the lower prices have been dealt with and how the gas industry will cope in this environment.

I am particularly looking forward to the discussions with OPEC, the reactions to political developments in the US, Russia and the ME, the role of natural gas and specifically of LNG, the importance of the Far East and Africa on the demand curve and of course how the unconventionals have fared.  The climate change sessions should also be particularly interesting.  It will be a busy and I trust very engaging programme – it will also be great to catch up with so many colleagues and make new connections over the three days of IP Week activities.

I leave you for now with a scene setter from BP, who have just released their Energy Outlook report, which reviews long-term energy trends and develops projections for world energy markets over the next two decades

‘The global energy landscape is changing. Traditional centres of demand are being overtaken by fast-growing emerging markets. The energy mix is shifting, driven by technological improvements and environmental concerns. More than ever, our industry needs to adapt to meet those changing energy needs’ – Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive.

I look forward to welcoming you at IP Week 2017.