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Headed by Dr. Ahmed Ali Al Sharyan, the Secretary General of the NOGA delegation represented the Kingdom of Bahrain at the 14th International Energy Forum (IEF) held in Moscow from May 15 to 16. Dr. Al Sharyan was joined at the forum by Dr. Mohamed Jaffer Al Sayyad, Director of Studies and International Relations. A total of 101 delegations participated in the forum representing governments, the oil industry and international organizations.

Energy ministers from all major oil producing and exporting countries participated in the forum, including oil ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, who attended the first session with the Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev.

Participants reviewed several present-day issues in the global oil scene such as the new energy outline, unconventional oil and gas exploration and the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon initiative ‘Sustainable Energy for All’. They also discussed the transition to a low-carbon reality, global energy efficiency in light of the changing geographic distribution of energy demand and supply.

On the sidelines of the forum, Dr. Al Sharyan met the Secretary General of the International Gas Union, Torstein Indrebo and Ksenia Gladkova, senior advisor of the giant consultant. The officials shared with the Bahrain delegation the significant work by the union since its inception in 1930 and its business activities. The non-profit organization based in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, has a membership of 125 companies and international institutions working in the gas industry, which constitute 95% of the global gas market. The officials expressed interest in the LNG Terminal project being set up in Bahrain and the ongoing activities in the Kingdom in the field of gas.

The Bahraini delegation also met the Deputy Director of the National Energy Administration of the Republic of China, Mr. Khiaochu Dai and discussed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the organisation and NOGA during the historic China visit of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in October, 2013. The official said he looked forward to hold the first meeting of the joint committee for the implementation of the MoU.

The International Energy Forum was established in 2003 at the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the support of the forum’s 89 member countries, which make up 90 % of the total global supply of oil and gas. The Saudi capital Riyadh is the headquarters of this organization, created specifically to facilitate dialogue and consensus between producing and consuming countries of energy, particularly oil and gas.