5th IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum

The 5th IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum was held in New Delhi, India on 6 December 2016 back-to-back with PETROTECH 2016.

The main theme of the Forum was "Gas for Growth; improving economic prosperity and living standards". The Government of India hosted this prestigious biennial Ministerial Forum, which was also supported by GAIL (India) Limited and the Natural Gas Society of India.

The International Energy Forum (IEF) and the International Gas Union (IGU) set up this important dialogue platform amongst Ministers, CEOs and experts, aiming to better understand the current state of play in the global gas industry and how the gas sector can contribute to sustainable growth and secure energy future. Changes in global gas supply and demand will continue to impact expectations regarding the urban environment and transport sector and influence the distribution of modern energy services and manufacturing processes around the world. As these trends will have important implications for energy policy and international cooperation, and as a member of both organisations, India was honoured to support this Ministerial dialogue by convening the 5th IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum in New Delhi.

Ministerial Documentation

• Agenda
• IEF Background Paper
• IEF-BCG Background Paper
• What JODI Gas Shows
• IGU Paper
• EY Paper
• Biographies

Ministerial Videos

• 5th IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum
• Shri Dharmendra Pradhan - Interview
• Dr Sun Xiansheng - Interview
• Luis Bertran Rafecas - Interview
• Shri B C Tripathi - Interview
• Dr Hossein Adeli - Interview
• Keisuke Sadamori - Interview
• Daniel Yergin - Interview
• Prof. Hidetoshi Nishimura - Interview
• Nobuo Tanaka - Interview
• Samer Al Ashgar - Interview
• Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi - Interview
• Ane de Arino - Interview
• David Modesett - Interview
• Menelaos Ydreos - Interview

Fifth IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum

Welcome Address and Opening Remarks

• HE Sun Xiansheng, Secretary General, International Energy Forum
• HE David Carroll, President, International Gas Union
• Shri B C Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director, Gail (India) Limited

Inaugural Address by HE Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India

Keynote Speech on "Perspectives on Gas Markets" by HE Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, Qatar

Panel Session 1: Gas for Growth and Sustainability; what have we learned? Chairman: HE Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India.

Setting the scene: Dr Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman, IHS Markit, Author of The Quest and The Prize (session moderator)

• What is the role of natural gas in achieving a sustainable energy mix?
• In what ways can natural gas contribute to the goals for energy access, affordability and choice; how are infrastructure needs best addressed & what role do multilateral institutions play?
• What market, policy, or technological changes are required for natural gas to contribute effectively to the objective of reducing energy poverty and improving living standards?
• Will natural gas demand be driven by power, transportation, industrial or domestic uses? Role of small scale LNG in expanding the natural gas market?

The use of gas for power generation, industrial use, heating and transport has increased as a consequence of technological advances, lower prices, and a growing interest in reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas has become one of the preferred options for enabling access to modern energy services to support public health, economic development and to provide back-up in support of power generation with intermittent renewable energy sources. How the interaction between gas, renewable energies, nuclear and other fossil fuels is managed depends on country specific conditions and policy choices. Yet the contribution that gas makes in advancing economic diversification, sustainable growth, public health and lower emissions goals is widely acknowledged. How does gas combine best with other energy technologies in the policy design of individual producer and consumer countries and across regions?

Presentations by invited speakers

• HE Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Nigeria
• Nizar Mohammad Al-Adsani, CEO, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation
• Dilip Khanna, Partner, EY

Open roundtable discussion followed by an interactive survey

Opening Remarks: HE SM Hossein Adeli, Secretary General, Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF)

Panel Session 2: Regional gas markets; new prospects for trade and integration Chairman: HE Sun Xiansheng, Secretary General, International Energy Forum

Setting the Scene: Dr Fereidun Fesharaki, Founder and Chairman of FGE (session moderator)

• What are the prospects for LNG to accomplish greater integration among the world’s three main regional gas markets - North America, Europe, and Asia?
• What regions are most likely to attract new gas investments in the next decade and why?
• How likely is it that within the next 10 years Asia will develop its own hub market for gas to gas competition?
• Beyond legal certainty, what areas must be the focus of policy in order to promote and develop national, regional and global gas markets?

New gas supply, a slow-down in economic growth and the effect of lower oil prices and competition from other energy sources have further decreased price differentials between spot and oil indexed price mechanisms. As a result, natural gas prices have converged among European, Asian and North American markets. These developments impact gas market integration, including dynamics between pipeline imports and LNG trade at regional and international levels. On the supply side, the export potential from some key gas producers is increasingly being constrained by rising domestic demand. Present price signals and subsidy reforms may further amplify this trend. On the demand side, European and Asian growth markets have experienced a period with high gas import prices and increasingly complex supply dynamics. This stimulated investment in alternative sources including coal, renewables and nuclear. How will supply and demand respond to these changing market conditions and affect regional gas trade? How are pricing barriers and infrastructure needs addressed to connect LNG facilities with power plants, and other inland off-takers, to accelerate gas market growth in India and Asian markets?

Presentations by invited speakers

• Shri B. C. Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director, Gail (India) Limited
• Ane Ariño, Director of Business Development, Asia, India and North Africa, Gas Natural Fenosa
• Roger Bounds, Vice President, Global Gas, Shell Trading
• Professor Hidetoshi Nishimura, President, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
• Alexander Huurdeman, Senior Oil and Gas expert, World Bank

Open roundtable discussion followed by an interactive survey

Panel Session 3: Policy trends for investment across regions Chairman: HE David Carroll, President, International Gas Union

Setting the Scene: Nobuo Tanaka, former IEA Executive Director (session moderator)

• How has policy and regulation affected investor confidence in upstream and downstream segments of new and existing gas markets?
• What is the impact of carbon taxes, emission trade, and/or performance standards across sectors on gas sector investment?
• What are the “lessons of experience” in the promotion of natural gas and investments in the sector globally?

New realities give rise to new questions. These concern the impact of current policy and price signals on gas sector investment. Major pipeline and LNG capacity is entering the market after a period of sustained upstream investment aimed at diversifying existing markets and developing new ones. The projected abundance, on one hand, sharpens focus on investment in downstream infrastructure and policies to facilitate gas market penetration where the expansion of gas consumption enables economic diversification, and makes rapid demographic growth and urbanization more sustainable. On the other hand, perceptions and realities of greater gas supply availability differ. Obstacles and opportunities depend on producer-consumer market characteristics and contract terms or policy relations across regions.

Presentations by invited speakers

• HE Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Cyprus
• David Modesett, President, Vega Energy
• Keisuke Sadamori, Director for Energy Markets and Security, IEA
• Menelaos Ydreos, Executive Director of Public Affairs and Chairman of the Coordination Committee, IGU

Open roundtable discussion followed by an interactive survey

Concluding remarks

• HE Luis Bertran Rafecas Secretary General, International Gas Union
• HE Sun Xiansheng, Secretary General, International Energy Forum
• HE Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India

Video interview of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India.

Watch the 5th IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum Joint Press Conference – Credit Energy Infrapost.

Details of the previous IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forums can be found below.

Previous Ministerials

• 4th IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum
  11-12 November 2014, Acapulco, Mexico
• 3rd IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum
  16 November 2012, Paris, France
• 2nd IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum
  30 November 2010, Doha, Qatar
• 1st IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum
  24 November 2008, Vienna, Austria