• New BP Group Chief Executive Bernard Looney confirms early speaking engagement will be IP Week Dinner
• Industry leaders will be joined by speakers from environmental NGOs and others to help define the sector’s role in delivering a low carbon future

Transformation in the oil and gas industry will be the central focus of IP Week 2020, taking place in London from 25-27 February, it was announced today as more details of the speaker programme were confirmed.

Bernard Looney FREng FEI, the incoming group chief executive of BP will be the keynote speaker and guest of honour at the IP Week Dinner 2020.

It will be the culmination of a week of discussions bringing together 1,500 industry professionals from more than 50 countries, centred on defining the oil and gas industry’s role in delivering a low carbon future.

Chaired by EI President Steve Holliday FREng FEI, perspectives external to the industry have been invited to open the conference for the first time, including environmental NGOs, climate science and development experts and the investment community. Dedicated segments will also explore the issues in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Louise Kingham OBE FEI, Chief Executive of the Energy Institute commented:
“This will be one of Bernard Looney’s earliest speaking engagements at the helm of BP, so the audience will be keen to hear his outlook for the company and its role as it and the wider oil and gas industry adapts to the reality of our changing climate.

“The conference programme this year focuses decisively on the low carbon future. Alongside leaders from across the industry, we bring in external speakers providing vital context to the urgent global challenges we face. 

“2020 is a crossroads year. As Paris takes effect, the debate in the run up to Glasgow is increasingly not ‘if’ net-zero, but ‘when’ and ‘how’. At the same time, demand continues to rise to meet the needs of populations in developing economies, including billions still without adequate energy.

“IP Week 2020 is where these discussions meet.”

Bernard Looney said:
“You can see the energy transition as a risk to be managed or an opportunity for us to take. I see huge opportunities for BP and for our industry in helping rewire the global energy system for a low carbon future. In a crucial year for the climate debate, IP Week in February is a welcome chance to discuss what we all want, can and need to do.”  

Bernard Looney will become Group Chief Executive of BP on 5 February 2020. He has run BP’s Upstream business since April 2016 and has been a member of the company’s executive management team since November 2010. A Fellow of the Energy Institute and the Royal Academy of Engineering, Bernard has held a variety of jobs at BP since joining as a drilling engineer in 1991.

Other speakers confirmed for IP Week 2020 so far include:

• HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Secretary General, OPEC
• Craig Bennett, Chief Executive, Friends of the Earth
• Dr Fatih Birol HonFEI, Executive Director, International Energy Agency
• Arnaud Breuillac, President Exploration & Production, Member of Executive Committee, Total
• Andy Brogan, Global Oil & Gas Leader, EY
• Roger Brown, Chief Financial Officer, Seplat
• Mark Brownstein, Senior Vice President of Energy, Environmental Defence Fund
• Deborah Byers, Americas Sector Leader, US Oil & Gas Leader, EY
• Manish Chawla, Global Managing Director, Energy & Natural Resources, IBM
• Colette Cohen FEI, Chief Executive Officer, The Oil & Gas Technology Centre
• Al Cook, Executive Vice President, Global Strategy & Business Development, Equinor
• Mark Gyetvay, CFO & Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, NOVATEK
• Matt Haddon, Global Lead of Sustainability Services, ERM
• Yu Jiao, Vice President, Economic and Development Research Institute, SINOPEC
• Joan MacNaughton CB Hon FEI, Chair, The Climate Group
• Paul McDade FEI, Chief Executive Officer, Tullow Oil
• Dr Leena Srivastava, Deputy Director General for Science, IIASA
• Chris Weafer, Founding Partner, Macro Advisory
• Ed Williams, President and CEO of Edelman EMEA
• Dr Zhen Wang FEI, Deputy Director-General, Policy Research, CNPC
• Dr Sun Xiansheng, Secretary General, IEF

Put together by leading sector experts, the IP Week programme brings people together to help the industry navigate big challenges, focussing on transformation through innovation, technology and talent.

The programme for IP Week 2020 and event tickets, can be found at www.ipweek.co.uk

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Energy Institute (EI)