The National Oil and Gas Forum Opened at Expocentre Fairgrounds

The National Oil and Gas Forum opened at Expocentre Fairgrounds. The event is co-located with the Neftegaz 2018 international oil and gas trade show.

The forum opened with a session on technological development of the Russian oil and gas industry during digital transformation of the global economy and structural reforms.

The session was moderated by President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergey Katyrin. According to Mr. Katyrin, the National Oil and Gas Forum and Neftegaz 2018 attract attention of not only Russian businessmen but also their foreign colleagues, and not only those who work in the industry but also many other people working in related fields.

Mr. Katyrin asked Russian and foreign experts a number of relevant questions. Some of the topics were about the future of the oil and gas market, its changes related to the digital economy, trends in oil prices, and prospects of the agreement to reduce crude oil production signed in the late 2016 between OPEC, Russia and several countries outside the Cartel.  

Head of the OPEC Petroleum Studies Department Behrouz Beik Alizadeh praised the OPEC+ agreement and Russia's role in it. He noted that in 2016 the oil market as in chaos but the agreement signed with Russia helped to balance and stabilize it. "Cooperation of OPEC and Russia was unprecedented. Russia was the main player in developing and taking this important decision which allowed supporting crude oil prices," said the OPEC representative.   

The topic was continued by Russian deputy minister of energy Pavel Sorokin. He reminded that the price of oil in 2016 was only 27 USD per barrel. Many countries whose budgets depended on oil could not make long-term decisions in that volatile environment. Oil producers had to cooperate. Positions of OPEC and Russia became closer.  Everybody was interested in stability and predictability of the oil market. Since 2016 demand for oil has increased 1.5 million barrels per day. "Without the efforts of OPEC members and Russia we would not see stability and prerequisites for return of investments to the industry," said the deputy minister.

The second session was devoted to import substitution and localization in the oil and gas industry. The forum will continue.