As Energy Shock Rattles Economies, Global Oil and Gas Leaders Gather in Houston

HOUSTON—The Iran war’s global energy shock will be front and center when the 44th annual CERAWeek by S&P Global Energy convenes March 24 at the Hilton Americas–Houston and George R. Brown Convention Center.

More than 10,000 industry experts, financial analysts, and innovators—including 1,620 corporate executives and 445 government officials from 89 countries—will attend the five-day event, which features 1,470 speakers leading 744 presentations and forums covered by nearly 400 credentialed media, according to S&P Global.

Often described as “the Super Bowl of energy” and “the Davos of energy,” CERAWeek spans all realms of energy generation: Leading nuclear, geothermal, wind, and solar developers pitch their industries, and issues such as electric grids, global mining, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and data centers are extensively explored by government and industry leaders.

But the annual conference’s immediate focus will be on oil and gas prices across global economies since the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.

A hot topic will be Iran’s de facto shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s crude oil passes, and the destruction of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity, which had supplied 20 percent of the world market.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright will open the conference on March 24 in conversation with S&P Global Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin. Wright, who will also deliver a March 25 presentation, will be joined later in the week by other top Trump administration officials, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin.

Amin H. Nasser, who is the president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, and Shaikh Nawaf Al-Sabah, the deputy chairman and CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corp., will be among the first-day speakers. Former U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis will be among the participants in a forum discussion.

Revitalizing Venezuela’s post-Maduro crude oil industry will also feature prominently at the conference. Mike Wirth, chair and CEO of Chevron, is among the first-day speakers expected to discuss that and other petroleum initiatives. Nobel Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado will participate in a March 25 forum on Venezuela’s future.

Other prominent CERAWeek speakers include Cheniere Energy CEO Jack Fusco; Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips; Shell CEO Wael Sawan; Harbour Energy CEO Linda Z. Cook; Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub; Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes; and Michael Smith, chairman, CEO, and founder of Freeport LNG.

Notable government participants include U.S. Deputy Commerce Secretary Paul Dabbar, U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Laura Swett, European Commission Director General for Energy Ditte Juul Jorgensen, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, and Argentine Vice Minister of Energy and Mining Daniel González.

Corporate leaders such as James D. Farley Jr., president and CEO of Ford; Jim Fitterling, chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical; John Ketchum, chairman, president, and CEO of NextEra Energy; Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower; and Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Google, are also set to deliver presentations.

CERAWeek often draws protests from climate activists on Discovery Green, a 12-acre park across the street from the Hilton Americas–Houston and George R. Brown Convention Center. Those demonstrations are expected to be larger this year, and S&P Global has cautioned attendees not to wear admission badges outside the conference venue.