CeraWeek 2021 to focus on an energy industry in transition

The event will take place from March 1 to 5 and feature high-profile speakers including US climate chief John Kerry

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Adnoc group chief executive, with IHS Markit vice chairman Daniel Yergin. Adnoc

CeraWeek, a key event for the US and global energy industry, will be held online this week, bringing together ministers, energy executives and policymakers to discuss the sector’s ongoing green transition.

The event will take place from Monday to Friday and feature high-profile speakers such as former US secretary of state and US President Joe Biden’s climate chief John Kerry, newly confirmed US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and Opec secretary general Mohammed Barkindo.

The theme for this year's event is The New Map: Energy, Climate, and Charting the Future, which is also the name of the latest book by Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of CeraWeek organiser IHS Markit.

Mr Yergin, a renowned energy historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Prize, published The New Map last year.

The book and the coming event will shed light on the new challenges posed by transitioning global economies.

The energy industry is on the cusp of long-term structural changes, necessitated by a warming planet and growing investor and activist concerns over industry excesses.

The pandemic-induced demand crunch and a review of oil and gas asset values have forced several oil companies to reassess the future of their businesses.

Technology such as artificial intelligence and an increase in the adoption of renewables such as wind, solar and hydrogen are integral to the evolving energy industry.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez are among world leaders who will attend the five-day event.

CeraWeek will also feature Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Adnoc group chief executive, and Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser.

Other speakers include billionaire and healthcare philanthropist Bill Gates, the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund Yasir Al Rumayyan and US national climate adviser Gina McCarthy.

Big Oil executives such as BP chief executive Bernard Looney will speak at the event, which will also be attended by shale company bosses and Norwegian Minister for Petroleum and Energy Tina Bru.

This year’s CeraWeek will look at new actors in the energy industry and the role of the investment community in enforcing greater environmental, social and governance standards.

It will also offer insights into the plans of the Biden administration, which paused drilling on federal lands and plans to usher in about $2 trillion in investment into the clean energy sector.