Strategic Conference

Major exporting countries are today facing unexpected and urgent financing challenges to repair damaged critical energy assets and export infrastructure from recent conflict. With repairs and reconstruction costs running into billions, the financial impact extends beyond physical damage to include lost export revenues, exposure to spot market premium pricing, disrupted cargo flows and mounting pressure on state budgets. These shocks are reshaping capital allocation, diverting funds once earmarked for international expansion and domestic growth towards recovery and protection of strategic energy facilities.

Attendee insights:
As countries move to strengthen the security of energy assets, export terminals and critical infrastructure, access to rapid, flexible and riskaligned capital has become a strategic priority making the examination of financing structures and risk-sharing mechanisms to build greater resilience that underpins global energy security a timely discussion.

Africa holds around 514 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, yet per-capita consumption remains below a quarter of the global average. Following geopolitical escalations, growing export opportunities across Africa create scope for LNG to drive economic growth while meeting domestic energy needs. The challenge is connecting the continent’s gas with global markets. Commercialising stranded and associated gas requires investment in production, processing and pipelines, but financing costs and project delays continue to constrain development.

Attendee Insights:
Combining operational and financial perspectives, the panel will examine Africa’s gas investment outlook and the barriers to commercial and infrastructure development.

Months of disruption to crude and petroleum product flows have drawn down global inventories, exposing how little supply cover remains against another shock. Rebuilding stocks while meeting demand could take up to two years once the Strait of Hormuz fully reopens and market confidence returns, while limited supplies of refined fuels add to the challenge. As global energy markets face continued supply constraints, restoring damaged infrastructure and refinery output in the region must now go hand in hand with replenishing inventories.

Attendee Insights:
An important discussion on how infrastructure restoration, refinery output and export flows from the Middle East will influence global inventory replenishment, fuel prices and supply security.

The East Mediterranean has entered a new phase of natural gas development, as offshore resources, cross-border infrastructure and export pathways strengthen regional cooperation and global supply resilience. With Cyprus advancing first-gas ambitions and securing FID, Egypt reinforcing its role as a processing and liquefaction hub, and European markets seeking diversified supply, the region has become a strategic corridor for commercial growth, energy security and geopolitical alignment.

Attendee insights:
With this new decisive phase of regional cooperation and with integrated projects moving from discovery to development, a well-timed discussion on how alignment of producing, consuming and transit countries is enabling resource commercialisation and adding new gas volumes at pace.

Building on decades of trusted upstream partnerships and world-class offshore discoveries, Egypt is entering a new decisive phase of exploration development. With new acreage, newly available offshore blocks and frontier exploration opportunities coming to market, Egypt stands at the forefront of the regions next investment cycle, offering international partners long-term access to the country’s natural resources.

Attendee insights:
In June 2026, Egypt cleared all international partner arrears, reducing outstanding payments from $6.18 billion to zero in just two years. This milestone has restored investor confidence, strengthened the country’s upstream investment climate and paved the way for renewed oil and gas exploration and development activity. Against, this backdrop, an examination of Egypt’s growth agenda and where partners can help unlock new offshore momentum.

As crude prices continue to dominate headlines, it’s refining margins that are increasingly shaping the real economics of energy availability. As refined product markets remain tighter than crude balances, producers, refiners, traders and consumers are navigating a more complex pricing environment where gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and petrochemical feedstocks can move independently from crude fundamentals. Against this backdrop, traders and buyers are also factoring the added costs of a transportation premium to cover the complexities of delivering products to customers.

Attendee Insights:
A timely discussion on why refined products are now a critical indicator of market tightness and how margin volatility is influencing refinery and feedstock optimisation and investment decisions and what today’s pricing pressures mean for economies, industries and consumers dependent on affordable fuels from Asia to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.

Solar, wind, energy storage, hydrogen, carbon capture, electrification and efficiency are no longer standalone technologies; they are becoming interconnected pillars of a more secure, competitive and lower-emission energy system. However, deployment at scale due to policy certainty, commerciality, buy-side demand, grid readiness and integration remain barriers slowing progress.

Attendee insights:
Whilst renewables continue to form an important and growing part of the future energy mix, barriers must be addressed to move projects from ambition and pilots to commercially scalable delivery. A valuable discussion on the strategic choices determining the next wave of renewable energy rollout.

Widespread East Med offshore discoveries, combined with Egypt’s extensive infrastructure are fast shaping the foundations for a major regional LNG export hub and strategic supply corridor. As new gas developments progress across the region, Egypt’s established LNG facilities, export optionality and strong neighbouring partnerships position the country as a central platform for commercialising regional resources, unlocking stranded gas assets and strengthening supply diversification to Europe and beyond.

Attendee insights:
Egypt’s liquefaction capacity and export flexibility create a powerful opportunity to reinforce its role as a long-term strategic bridge between production, supply and demand, creating a well-timed and compelling discussion on how Egypt is supporting faster route-to-market exports for bordering countries and unlocking greater integrated gas value across the region and the Country.

In recent months, energy security has risen above the energy transition narrative. However, in reality, resilient supply from a diversified energy value chain is now more urgent, not less. Today, the question is no longer whether hydrogen matters, but where it matters the most. How quickly it can scale, and what conditions, including policies, can make it commercially viable.

Attendee insights:
For hydrogen to support both energy security and transition, the path forward must be realistic, not as a universal solution, but as a critical enabler of reducing carbon intensity across the industry. A connector for renewable power generation, and a convertor of electricity into storable and transportable energy creating an important discussion on the alignment and investment still needed to scale hydrogen projects with real measurable results and added benefit.

Collaboration is critical to building the shared ecosystem needed to move AI from isolated innovation to a trusted driver of energy efficiency, decarbonisation, security and growth. To deliver industry-wide transformation and scale from pilots to enterprise-wide impact, the next challenge is transparent alignment between energy companies, technology providers, policymakers, regulators, investors and infrastructure operators. Widespread adoption will depend on AI delivering measurable results that unlock value across operations, asset performance, grid optimisation and emission reductions.

Attendee insights:
An insightful executive discussion on the imperative of collaboration for scaling AI with measurable results, from allocating investment, embracing flexible multi-model strategies, structuring engaged governance and prioritising where it can deliver the greatest operational and strategic value across the energy value chain.

According to the IEA, global electricity demand will grow by 3.6% in 2026 and by a further 3.8% in 2027, up from 3% growth in 2025. As rapid growth in data centres and electrification continue, new extreme global weather conditions are exacerbating systems already under pressure. Similarly, price spikes are becoming all too frequent due to supply bottlenecks and transmission interconnection delays.

Attendee insights:
As governments and operators work to meet growing electricity demand and transform future ready power systems, accelerating grid investment and renewables integration is crucial, making this discussion especially timely, as regional energy strategies increasingly prioritise the delivery of reliable, efficient and scalable electricity generation.

Whilst energy security and national security have gone hand in hand in recent years, maritime security has now joined the equation, no longer a standalone operational concern, but a central pillar of global energy strategies. From safeguarding offshore production assets, subsea infrastructure, import-export terminals and ports to the movement of LNG, crude oil and refined products, securely moving energy to market is now as important as securing the resources themselves.

Attendee insights:
With international partnerships supporting offshore E&P expansion across the East Mediterranean, an important discussion on maritime security being critical to offshore exploration resilience and supply stability.

As downstream competition intensifies and diversification strategies evolve, public fuel stations and wholesale fuel operations are providing significant opportunity for international growth and expansion into the growing global mobility space. In fuel stations, the opportunity is to move beyond conventional fuel retail and reshape the forecourt value proposition, whilst in fuel operations, commercial growth lies in large-volume aviation, marine and lubricants B2B channels.

Attendee insights:
As downstream players sharpen their focus on footprint expansion and market share leadership, this discussion explores how companies that combine large-scale retail networks with robust wholesale, aviation, marine and specialist fuel capabilities are unlocking early-mover mobility partnerships, capturing emerging demand, protecting margins and building more resilient downstream portfolios.

Whilst 2030-2050 oil scenarios see wide contradictions across major outlooks, there is renewed consensus that hydrocarbons, including oil, remain vital in the near-term, and that all forms of energy, hydrocarbons and renewables alike, will be required to meet rising long-term global demand. The strategic challenge is no longer whether or when oil will disappear from the energy mix, but how producers can sustain secure, reliable supply while accelerating the development of lower-carbon fuels, products and operations.

Attendee insights:
As clean energy deployment reshapes parts of the demand base, oil continues to underpin everyday products creating a well-timed opportunity to assess and gain clearer understanding of the latest oil scenarios, key trends and strategic choices facing oil markets as multiple future energy pathways continue to emerge.

For several years, the energy transition has been centred on replacing fossil fuel-based energy with renewables and other low carbon technologies. Today, cost of living pressures, industrialisation and renewed concerns over supply security are pushing governments towards a more pragmatic transition, prioritising affordability and recognising the role of both conventional and cleaner sources. This approach places expansion alongside substitution, requiring more supply, infrastructure and capital to meet growing demand while advancing decarbonisation.

Attendee Insights:
In advancing the energy transition and meeting climate targets, global economies need to be more selective in allocating capital to conventional energy. A significant discussion on investment and policies needed to scale renewables and climate technologies, balancing affordability, supply security and decarbonisation.

With plans to increase upstream production over the coming years to meet global energy demand, energy majors, national oil companies and E&P companies continue to focus on producing oil and gas more sustainably. Efforts to decarbonise operations include electrifying production facilities, reducing methane emissions and flaring, improving energy efficiency and deploying CCUS to lower the environmental footprint of oil and gas production.

Attendee Insights:
Global pressure on the oil and gas sector to deliver affordable energy with the ongoing crisis adds urgency to balancing production growth with long-standing decarbonisation commitments, making this a timely discussion on how operators are scaling production while reducing emissions.

Egypt’s substantial gas reserves, infrastructure and export routes outside the Strait of Hormuz are drawing renewed attention to its oil and gas assets, with several live and anticipated deals potentially doubling in M&A volume by the end of 2026. Payment delays and foreign currency constraints have in recent years deterred investors, but the clearance of $6.1 billion debt owed to international oil and gas companies in June 2026 is restoring confidence in Egypt’s upstream assets.

Attendee Insights:
Recent geopolitical escalations are prompting investors to reassess oil and gas acquisition opportunities. Egypt’s progress on settling arrears positions it to take advantage of this diversification wave, making this a timely discussion on the outlook for M&A activity in the country.

Regional supply disruptions and rising gas prices are placing energy security and affordability under pressure, creating difficult choices between meeting domestic demand and maintaining export revenues. The longer-term outlook brings another challenge, as LNG markets are expected to rebalance by 2028 before moving into potential oversupply from 2029. Investment and supply decisions are addressing today’s shortages while preparing gas-producing economies for tougher competition as they pursue export growth.

Attendee Insights:
Renewed geopolitical disruptions in the Middle East are pushing gas markets back into crisis, raising questions about how gas-producing economies can secure affordable domestic supplies while sustaining export ambitions.

As economies simultaneously electrify at pace and race to provide communities with constant electrical supply, high voltage power networks are becoming one of the most important measures of national stability and competitiveness. However, the next phase of electricity growth will depend not only on adding generation capacity from both hydrocarbons and renewables integration, but on building the network strength, reliability, national and regional grid connectivity required to deliver power where it is needed, when it is needed.

Attendee insights:
An examination of how countries are reinforcing electricity systems to support industrial growth, domestic supply and regional power trade, in addition to coordinated efforts of power pools to reduce system loses, improve reliability and enable more flexible electricity flows across grids and borders unlocking more efficient electricity markets.

As AI becomes increasingly embedded across the energy value chain, the governance surrounding its deployment is now a strategic priority. Whether the debate is framed as AI for energy, enabling smarter, more efficient and lower-carbon systems, or energy for AI, recognising the rising power demand and infrastructure requirements of data centres and digital technologies, clear governance, legislation and accountability frameworks are essential to ensuring responsible adoption.

Attendee insights:
With the EU AI Act implementation this August, and progressive national AI strategies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia shaping Middle Eastern regulatory direction, an important discussion analysing how industry leaders and policymakers are setting out robust generative AI guidelines, compliance pathways and adoption frameworks across the sector.

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism addresses differences in carbon pricing across countries by applying a carbon cost to embedded emissions in covered imports, including electricity, hydrogen and fertilisers. For the energy sector, the implications extend along the supply chain, influencing input costs, trade flows and investment decisions.

Attendee Insights:
With CBAM’s definitive regime in force since January 2026, the panel will provide early insights and an overall assessment on how carbon pricing and production emissions are affecting energy exports to the European market.

When markets are under pressure, its agile leadership that counts. When markets are volatile, supply chains are exposed and margins are constrained, what counts is decision making with impact, leading with clarity, confidence and conviction. However, long before market challenges arrive, leadership is anticipating potential vulnerabilities, maintaining long-term investment discipline and building the teams and systems needed to adapt through uncertainty and absorb shocks in periods of unforeseen change.

Attendee insights:
Today’s industry and business leaders are creating a new blueprint for operating under pressure, embracing resilience at the core to protect against and navigate pressures likely to challenge energy strategy decision making, providing a well-timed transparent discussion on how energy leaders are protecting performance and sustaining growth.

For LNG buyers, a long-term contract is only as reliable as the route through which its cargoes must pass. Geopolitical instability in the Strait of Hormuz has exposed the cost of depending on a handful of suppliers and a single shipping corridor. As a result, buyers in Europe and Asia are looking beyond the Gulf for LNG supplies, which is driving interest in projects in emerging export markets. However, diversification comes with trade-offs. Alternative supplies carry their own development risks, and improved supply security is likely to come at a higher price.

Attendee Insights:
Dependence on concentrated LNG supplies and vulnerable shipping routes is prompting buyers to rethink procurement strategies, placing emphasis on supplier diversification, flexible contracts and alternative delivery routes to secure reliable, affordable supplies.

Concerns over global fuel shortages have drawn increased attention to Nigeria’s Dangote refinery as an alternative supplier. For decades, Africa exported large volumes of crude while importing substantial quantities of refined petroleum products. The Dangote refinery demonstrates how processing crude locally can change that equation, retain more value in Africa and position the continent as a competitive exporter of refined petroleum products.

Attendee Insights:
Fragmented fuel standards, regulatory uncertainty and financing hurdles constrain Africa’s downstream investment, making this a timely discussion on attracting capital, expanding refining capacity and retaining more value from its oil and gas resources.

Egypt’s planned $4.5 billion refinery investment aims to replace imported petroleum products with domestic output. The investment is set to expand processing capacity, upgrade refining technology and increase fuel production. In addition to securing crude feedstock, the investment forms part of a wider strategy to meet domestic energy demand, increase upstream activity and reduce reliance on imported refined products.

Attendee Insights:
The panel will assess how Egypt’s planned $4.5 billion refinery investment can improve the country’s fuel self-sufficiency, reduce import costs and capture more value-add from domestic processing.

The oil and gas sector is arguably the backbone of the global economy, providing the energy that allows societies to function and prosper. Yet its significance is not always fully recognised or understood, giving corporate communications a critical role to play in strengthening the energy narrative, addressing misconceptions and building greater public trust.

Attendee insights:
An engaging discussion assessing how effective communication strategies with credible transparent evidence led storytelling can convey the industry’s value, strengthen its credibility and build public confidence in its role within society and the evolving global energy system.

From January 2027, long-term LNG contracts with Russian suppliers become prohibited across the European Union, opening the door for African producers to secure new buyers. Gross natural gas output across Africa reached around 331 billion cubic metres in 2025, led by Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt. Buyers choosing between cargoes in a competitive market will look at cost and shipping distance, giving African producers an advantage through their proximity to European regasification terminals.

Attendee Insights:
The panel will examine where African gas can gain ground in Europe’s supply mix, and how African producers can secure long-term buyers while meeting its domestic energy needs.

The energy system is evolving and becoming more complex, innovation is accelerating technology deployment, hydrocarbons, renewables and emerging low-carbon solutions are integrating like never before. This drive is broadening career pathways and increasing demand for a workforce equipped with transferable cross-sector skillsets that will enable change at speed and scale.

Attendee insights:
Attracting new talent and retaining existing expertise is a critical boardroom priority. For energy leaders, it’s opportunity to strengthen company performance, future-proof capability and build the workforce required to deliver long-term energy ambitions. A candid discussion exploring how government, industry and businesses are coordinating to scale talent pipelines, accelerate workforce growth and create lasting impact across future energy systems.

Financing for energy projects tend to succeed or fail based on one factor, bankability. Many projects have a strong strategic rationale but struggle to secure funding because of uncertain revenues, counterparty risk or poorly allocated contractual obligations. With lenders assessing projects against bankability criteria, energy companies must structure projects to meet these requirements and unlock financing.

Attendee Insights:
Bringing together energy companies, banks and financial institutions, the panel will assess how predictable cash flows, repayment capacity and clear risk allocation is underpinning bankable project structure and supporting financial close.

Egypt is actively building its digital infrastructure to become a regional hub for cloud computing, AI and digital services, with data centre’s fundamental to this ambition. Plans for its first large-scale AI data centre include a proposed 200-megawatt facility valued at $1 billion. Supporting developments of this scale require reliable electricity, and taking the necessary measures to ensure a safe, stable, and sustainable power supply.

Attendee Insights:
Among the new drivers of electricity demand, data centres stand out. The panel will explore how Egypt can provide the power supply requirements for data centre facilities in country with potential further expansion across the region.

Zero harm starts in the boardroom and extends through every level of the organisation. Across the energy sector, most incidents have a triggering human factor, making safety culture a leadership responsibility that starts with how employees are trained, supervised and equipped to work safely. While accident rates have declined, organisations continue to embed practices into business processes to protect their people, reduce incidents and downtime, and improve productivity and operational performance.

Attendee Insights:
Bringing together energy leaders, HSE executives and safety regulators this session will highlight the practices being embedded across their organisations to advance zero harm in the workplace.

Through digital transformation, energy systems around the world are becoming more intelligent, efficient, reliable and sustainable. Digitalisation is already helping operators monitor emissions in real time, predict maintenance needs, optimise system performance and reduce operational costs. To realise its full potential, the sector is working to modernise digital infrastructure, streamline data integration, address cybersecurity risks and develop workforce skills, while scaling solutions across existing assets.

Attendee Insights:
For energy companies, the focus is no longer whether to embrace digitalisation, but how to accelerate adoption in ways that delivers real impact, fast. This discussion will highlight the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation and how quickly digital solutions are scaling across the sector.