Media Center
2016-12-14
Bahrain recently hosted the annual meeting of the World Petroleum Council, the largest gathering on oil and gas issues in the world, which discussed administrative and financial matters and activities of the council.
Perhaps the most important action of the meeting was the vote by representatives of the Member States on the choice of the host country for the World Petroleum Conference (Congress) 2020, an event organized by the World Petroleum Council every three years in one of the Member States.
Both Vancouver, Canada and Houston, United States competed to host the World Conference in 2020, with Houston winning. The US delegation was headed at the meeting by Mr. Sylvester Turner, Mayor of the City of Houston, Texas, while the Canadian delegation was chaired by Canadian Ambassador Resident at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A previous conference held in Moscow in 2014 saw the presence of more than ten thousand participants, ranging from dignitaries, experts, speakers and representatives of the oil companies.
Minister of Oil of Bahrain His Excellency Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa hosted a reception for the participants and delivered a speech in which he stressed the interest of the Kingdom in hosting such international gatherings. He also praised the large attendance of many delegations from different parts of the world. He thanked all government agencies who contributed to the success of this meeting, expressing his special appreciation for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Interior Ministry and Economic Development Board.
The World Petroleum Council was established in 1933 and is based in London and takes up oil and gas and global oil industry issues. It has a membership of more than 70 oil producing and consuming countries around the world.
