Tucker has played a central role in the organ-isation of this year’s 24th World Petroleum Congress, taking place in Calgary on 17-21 September. Here he tells attendees what they can expect in September.
Tell us about the theme of this year’s World Petroleum Congress.
This year’s Congress is centred around the transition and the path to net zero. In canvassing the opinion of 35 of our member countries, this topic consistently came up as the most important. The industry is eyeing a huge shift from its traditional processes as it changes to meet the growing global demand for energy. We’re going to need renewables, hydrogen and geothermal in addition to traditional oil and gas. The Congress hopes to be able to generate some answers to the question: what are you doing to make a difference?
Is the transition still a priority in the current geopolitical climate?
Polls in Canada show that addressing climate change fell as a priority following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rise in energy prices. So it’s our responsibility as an industry to ensure that people are able to afford the energy they need to survive as well as be supportive of climate change. Everyone would like to flip a switch and get to net zero straight away, but the reality is we need to build a new infrastructure to rival the size of the existing one that took a hundred years, and trillions of dollars, to build. But we should not shy away from the scale of the challenge. Every little step we take towards reducing emissions helps.
What is new about this year’s Congress?
When speaking to potential sponsors and other stakeholders we heard three things very clearly. They want a chance to tell their story, a chance to network and a chance to do business. We have used those three pillars as the foundational structures of this Congress. In terms of the first pillar, we have an official strategic programme and a technical programme. In addition to that we have a number of small stages on the exhibition floor where any person or company that’s exhibiting can stand up and talk about what they’re doing.
In terms of the second two pillars, we have created ample opportunities for encounters between people who wouldn’t otherwise meet. In the layout of our meeting halls we’re using round tables as opposed to a theatre-style setup. We will have speed networking sessions, pitch sessions, reverse pitch sessions—really focusing on connecting investors and people with ideas. We’re bringing all these small firms with new technologies in, letting them showcase what they have to offer and then putting the framework in place to enable all sides to talk and do business.
Other than the transition, will there be an increased focus on any particular topics or areas?
We’re keen to bring in a lot of diverse opinions and groups. We have all sorts of think tanks, NGOs and academic and research groups speaking, including: Alberta Innovates, Energy Futures Lab and many others. We really didn’t want social responsibility to become a box-ticking exercise, and have gone to great lengths to ensure that we have a very robust programme. We will have a social responsibility pavilion on the exhibition floor with four main components to it: women in industry, young professionals, indigenous contributions and net zero emissions pathways. Each of those topics will have a programme of events in the pavilion, plus ancillary events happening around the exhibition hall. All these issues will also be addressed in the high-level sessions, and we have made an effort to have indigenous people and women on those panels.
Can you tell us more about the women in industry programme?
This will showcase results from the previous second Untapped Reserves DE&I survey, launched at the last Congress in 2021 in partnership with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which found that women only occupy 25% of the industry’s entry level positions, falling by more than half to 12% by executive level.
Untapped Reserves 3.0, whose current results will be analysed at depth at the Congress this September, has been expanded to include power, utilities and new energy companies as well as to cover other diversity dimensions such as race/ethnicity, disabilities and economic backgrounds. The survey will reassess the picture of DE&I in our sector whilst taking into account the full impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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