19th February 2014, London, UK
City of London Author Alexander Baxevanis License CC BY
The UK National Committee of the World Petroleum Council (WPC) held a WPC Expert Workshop focusing on financing international oil and gas projects. The aim of the workshop was to present London as the world leader in international oil and gas project finance showcasing the expertise of financial institutions based in the City. The workshop took place on 19 February 2014 in London. A reception was hosted by the City of London for all attendees on the evening of the 18th February.
Programme: http://www.energyinst.org/events/ip-week/ukwpcworkshop
About the World Petroleum Council
Headquartered in London, since 1933, the WPC includes 65 member countries from around the world representing over 95% of global oil and gas production and consumption. WPC membership includes both OPEC and Non-OPEC countries with representation of National Oil Companies (NOC's) as well as Independent Oil Companies (IOC's). Each country has a national committee made up of representatives from the oil and gas industry, academia and research institutions and government departments. Governing body is the Council with members from each of the country national committees.
Background to the workshop
The WPC has invited its National Committees to design and host a number of highly topical regional and global workshops to address key issues of interest to the petroleum industry, with the objective to gather experts for a thorough review of the latest developments, challenges and new solutions related to the selected subjects.
The UK National Committee has decided to focus its Expert Workshop on project finance, a topic of key importance to the global oil and gas industry. With its wealth of expertise, the City is uniquely placed to deliver financings for international oil and gas projects. The outcomes of the workshop will be summarised and presented at the next World Petroleum Congress in Moscow, June 2014.
The WPC UK National Committee Secretariat was hosted by the Energy Institute (EI), the leading chartered professional membership body for the global energy industry, which disseminates knowledge, skills and good practice towards a safe, secure and sustainable energy system. The EI is the organiser of the forthcoming WPC project finance workshop.
UK NC Workshop themes – showcasing the City’s expertise
The main focus of the workshop was raising finance for major international oil and gas projects. The workshop promoted the City’s expertise in providing advice and expert professional services in raising capital, mitigating risks and securing insurance. It showcased the City as the centre for project finance excellence. More than ever before project developers, sponsors and their advisers, bankers, credit agencies and investors must be properly equipped to analyse and explain the risks and prospects for a project’s future performance. The workshop topics included:
- Sources of finance for projects, impact of the global credit crisis on debt and equity funding
- Identifying, analysing and explaining risks (regulatory, geo-political, completion, technical, human, commodity price risks); structuring and sizing the loan facilities, production sharing agreements
- Insurance requirements for financed onshore and offshore oil, gas and petrochemical projects
- Case studies of upstream, midstream and downstream projects from around the world, which benefited from expertise and finance provided by City financiers, will be the key element of the workshop. The highlighted projects will include those developed in Africa, Middle East, Russia, China, Brazil, India, and Turkey.
The workshop was a new initiative and a “one-off event” under the WPC patronage, which builds on the need for access to finance and expertise in developing international oil and gas projects. The subject was of major long-term importance and had global implications.
Workshop audience and reach
The event provided a platform for networking and exchange of ideas by participants across the entire project finance value chain, including oil company representatives, financiers, investment and credit approvers, risk insurers, advisors, analysts, accountants, government representatives, project finance lawyers and in-house counsel. The workshop attracted an international audience, including senior representatives from international oil and gas companies (IOCs), national oil companies (NOCs) and independents.
The WPC Expert Workshop was held in conjunction with the Energy Institute’s International Petroleum Week held at the InterContinental Park Lane Hotel in London from the 17-19 February 2014.
For the full programme go to http://www.energyinst.org/events/ip-week/ukwpcworkshop
Click here for the Presentations
For the Report click here
For further information, please contact Marta Kozlowska at