Gas Forum will be the key industry event of this autumn according to the participants of the press conference that took place on September 20th in Moscow and was dedicated to the 7th St. Petersburg International Gas Forum (SPIGF). The Forum will run from October 3th till 6th and will bring together the leaders of the oil and gas industry from around the world.
Opening the press conference, the head of the Gas Forum Denis Osadchiy said: "In 2017, we expect more than 4,500 delegates from 40 countries across the world. The Forum's partners include large international associations: the European Association of Gas Companies (Eurogas), the Association of European Businesses, NGV Italy and others. The central event of the convention program, the plenary session "The Role of the Russian Gas Complex in the World Energy Balance" will bring together CEOs of the industry's leading companies from all over the world, such as Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell, Uniper SE, OMV."
This year, the Gas Forum will run as part of the International Forum on Energy Efficiency and Development of Energy "Russian Energy Week", said the Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Kirill Molodtsov. He also remarked that "This year, the Russian Energy Week will be held in two cities. Events running in Moscow are to be complemented by the events in St. Petersburg. This will have a perfect synergetic effect and will ensure the most comprehensive coverage of the situation in the energy sector as a whole. In particular, the Forum of Gas Exporting Countries (FGEC) will run in Moscow, whereas St. Petersburg will showcase the industry's practical progress, with all the participants of FGEC visiting SPIGF to see the achievements of the largest Russian companies."
As Russia's central industrial venue, SPIGF is putting continuous effort into development of international collaboration. The press conference also featured the head of UNIPER representative office in Moscow Rainer Hartmann: "UNIPER is a long-standing partner of Russia. In fact, our cooperation started in the 70s of the previous century. Today, UNIPER is a partner of Gazprom in the North Stream-2 project. We couldn't possibly miss such a large-scale industry event as SPIGF. Even more so that this year's Forum is devoted to such high-potential areas of the industry as production, technology and liquefied natural gas transportation solutions, as well as LNG applications. UNIPER has an extensive experience and a portfolio of know-how in this area, which we will be glad to share. Besides that, we hope the Forum will give us an opportunity to discuss pressing issues of the industry that remains the backbone of Russian-European economic relations."
Speaking about the importance of the Forum and his expectations, the Deputy CEO of HMS Group Andrey Nasledyshev said that: "HMS Group produces a wide range of equipment for the oil and gas industry. In recent years, we have been actively developing the gas sector, and the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum is the most important event that allows us to exhibit our new products and present them before a wide audience of potential customers. Apart from our own exposition, HMS Group takes part in Gazprom's exhibition of import substitution. All in all, more than 20 samples of our equipment designed for the gas industry will be exhibited at the exhibition, including our solutions in the area of compressor equipment for LNG plants, which we are also planning to show in St. Petersburg. "
It noteworthy that the Forum evolves not only in terms of higher number of delegates, countries and exhibitors, but also in terms of establishing stronger business ties with other industry events. As part of the press conference, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum and the National Oil and Gas Forum (NOGF). Head of NOGF Sergey Yatsenya expressed his high opinion of the established ties and told the audience that SPIGF is preparing a number of events as part of its business program, including the ones covering social aspects of the industry, as well as the prospects for development of the Russian gas industry in the conditions of a gradually diminishing hydrocarbon share in the energy balance of European countries.