Look Ahead: API Heads to CERAWeek 2023

Chris Carroll
Posted March 3, 2023

The world’s energy leaders and key policymakers make the annual trip to Houston next week for CERAWeek 2023, one the world’s most prestigious business strategy conferences. This year’s event is scheduled March 6-10 under the theme “Navigating a Turbulent World: Energy, Climate and Security” and will pull together thousands of delegates and more than 900 speakers from 87 nations.

Now in its 41st year, CERAWeek participants will explore new ideas about the future of energy, investing, manufacturing, technology, financial services, utilities, and environmental issues on a global platform. The cross-discipline gathering of corporate executives and government leaders provides a forum for a better understanding of the current state of global energy markets, geopolitics and climate action.

As an advocate for America’s natural gas and oil industry, API is honored to have a strong presence at CERAWeek as an Industry Partner alongside organizations in energy media, education, research and technology. The event will feature appearances from some of the top names in energy policymaking, including John Podesta, President Joe Biden’s clean energy advisor; U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm; Senators Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska); and EPA Administrator Michael Regan. Pulitzer Prize-winning energy expert Daniel Yergin, vice chair of S&P Global, CERAWeek’s lead sponsor, will be a moderator and showrunner at events all week.

Additionally, dozens of API member company leaders will be participating in executive conferences and strategic dialogues. For example:

• Mike Wirth, Chevron chairman and CEO, will appear with Yergin during Monday’s opening session to discuss “New Perspectives, New Strategies” and his reflections on the competitive landscape.
• On Tuesday morning, Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods will address an executive conference titled “Investment Strategies for the Future.”
• Also Tuesday, API member company leaders John Hess of Hess Corporation and Ryan Lance of ConocoPhillips will discuss the leadership role natural gas and oil will play over the next decade. Enbridge’s Greg Ebel and Cheniere’s Jack Fusco will talk about the future of natural gas.
• On Thursday, Shell’s new CEO, Wael Sawan, will sit with Yergin for a leadership dialogue on energy infrastructure and supply chains.

That’s far from all – CEOs and other senior leaders from API members such as bp, Phillips 66, Equinor, Occidental, Tellurian and many more will be making their mark on the conference in the coming days.

Meanwhile, API’s top leadership, volunteer policy committee members, and team members from Washington and Houston will attend panels and discussions throughout the five busy days of events:

• On Monday, API President & CEO Mike Sommers will participate in a Yergin-guided panel discussion on “Energy Priorities in Washington: The Industry Perspective” alongside Karen Harbert, CEO of the American Gas Association, and Tom Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute. The panel will review the impact of the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act and other U.S. policies that affect markets, investing, and advancing a strong and safe energy supply.
• Monday evening, Amanda Eversole, API executive vice president & chief advocacy officer, will participate in a dinner panel focusing on “Diversity in the Workforce: Creating Value.” Eversole will join session speakers Jane Stevenson of global organizational consulting firm Korn Ferry, Farehana Hanapiah with Petronas, Shiva McMahon with Woodside Energy and Annette O'Hanlon with S&P Global. The panel will discuss ways to unlock organizational potential and focus on all aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Also Monday night, Frank Macchiarola, API senior vice president of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs, will join a panel exploring “U.S. Energy Policy: Carrots and Sticks.” The group, which includes officials from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Nuclear Energy Institute and the American Clean Power Association, will explore key energy policy changes in recent years as well as how shifting political winds factor into short- and long-term lawmaking in DC.
• Finally, on Wednesday, Dustin Meyer, API vice president of Natural Gas Markets, is scheduled to appear on a panel called “North American Gas: Are Strategies Changing?” Panelists include top leaders from API members Cheniere and Williams, two companies that boosted the profile of the American liquefied natural gas industry over the course of what Meyer has called the “most dynamic year in the history of gas.”

The event’s title certainly sums up the last year as top energy thinkers and industry leaders assemble to address the geopolitical risks unleashed by war, supply shortages and inflation – as well as opportunities ahead to both bolster worldwide energy security and address climate change.

Check back to the API Energy Tomorrow blog throughout next week or follow API on Twitter for real-time updates from Houston, appropriately heralded as the Energy Capital of the World.