The Rotterdam Ahoy
Letter from Rotterdam: Oil and gas go AWOL
With just a small presence from the oil and gas industry, the World Energy Council’s biennial congress gave a stark reminder of Europe’s energy priorities
The World Energy Council held its 26th congress in April this year in Rotterdam, almost a hundred years after the organisation convened its first conference. However, some very prominent oil and gas companies were conspicuous in their absence this year. All the energy doublespeak was focused on emissions abatement and carbon neutrality goals. There was little or no acknowledgement of the energy shocks of the last few years, even though the last Congress—the 25th—had been scheduled for St Petersburg in 2022, before being cancelled in the fallout from the Ukraine invasion. Sustainability not security was top of the agenda. Indeed, the panel session speakers seemed to comprise more NGOs than CE
Also in this section
11 August 2025
The administration is pushing for deregulation and streamline permitting for natural gas, while tightening requirements and stripping away subsidies from renewables
8 August 2025
The producers’ group missed its output increase target for the month and may soon face a critical test of its strategy
7 August 2025
The quick, unified and decisive strategy to return all the barrels from the hefty tranche of cuts from the eight producers involved in voluntary curbs signals a shift and sets the tone for the path ahead
7 August 2025
Without US backing, the EU’s newest sanctions package against Russia—though not painless—is unlikely to have a significant impact on the country’s oil and gas revenues or its broader economy
