OFID Director-General delivers statement at WPC in Moscow

June 15-19: OFID took part in the 21st World Petroleum Congress (WPC), held under the theme Responsibly Energising a Growing World, in Moscow, Russia. At the special round table entitled Social Responsibility in the oil and gas industry: Earning a Social License to Operate, OFID Director-General Mr Suleiman J Al-Herbish delivered a statement that highlighted OFID's activities relating to its Energy for the Poor Initiative and the water-food-energy nexus.

OFID was also represented at the Social Responsibility Global Village which aimed at increasing awareness of key regional and international social responsibility initiatives developed jointly between NGOs and the various oil and gas companies. Mr Faris Hasan, Corporate Planning & Economic Services (CPES) Director at OFID, gave a presentation at the Village which outlined OFID's activities and its focus on energy poverty alleviation. He also took the opportunity to discuss the importance of social responsibility programs in promoting human development.

Given the major role of the oil and gas industry in providing the world with its energy needs, Mr Hasan informed the audience that OFID would host, in collaboration with the World Petroleum Council, a symposium on Petroleum Industry Support for Universal Energy Access from November 3-4, 2014. The symposium will address the role of the petroleum industry in alleviating energy poverty.

Dr Namat Alsoof, consultant for the CPES unit at OFID, also participated in a session themed Reserves and Resource Classification and Reporting: Responding to a Changing World.

During the congress, which was attended by some 5,000 delegates from all over the world, OFID also hosted an exhibition stand to raise awareness of the importance of energy access as an essential factor for poverty eradication and sustainable development.