Price shocks, supply overhangs, complex international dealings among governments of oil-producing countries, cutbacks in planned investments in oil and gas production and exploration, a rise in competitive renewable energy production technologies, and corporate restructurings – the international oil and gas sector has faced a variety of challenges over the first six months of 2020. The continuing global COVID-19 pandemic is another factor affecting the sector directly as well as through its impacts on the global economy. Yet energy security has been and remains a critical factor in countries’ national security calculations and in the overall international relations agenda with the Trans-Caspian region playing an important role as a supplier and a transportation route for oil and natural gas.

The Caspian Policy Center will host a virtual panel discussion among senior government and corporate figures to look at current and expected changes and their potential effects. Particular topics will include the region’s continued role in the global energy security picture and the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having in that regard, the U.S.-Caspian and intra-regional cooperation amid the pandemic crisis, the current energy transition, and further utilization of renewable sources of energy.

9:00 – 9:05   Welcome remarks – Efgan Nifti, Executive Director, Caspian Policy Center

9:05 – 10:25   Panel discussion and Q&A session 

  Panel Speakers:

• Kurt Donnelly, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources, U.S. Department of State
• Javier Piedra, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia, USAID
• Elnur Soltanov, Deputy Minister of Energy, Azerbaijan
• Elshad Nassirov, Vice-President for Investment and Marketing, SOCAR
• George Chikovani, Chief Executive Officer, Georgian Energy Development Fund
• Alik Aidarbayev, Chief Executive Officer, KazMunayGas (invited)
• Burhan Özcan, General Manager, BOTAŞ (invited)
• Sherzod Khodjaev, Deputy Minister of Energy, Uzbekistan
• Robert Scher, Head of International Affairs, BP America
• Amy Conroy, Director, International Government Affairs, Chevron

Moderator: 

• Ambassador (Ret.) Robert F. Cekuta, Advisory Board Member, Caspian Policy Center

10:25 – 10:30  Closing Remarks

• Efgan Nifti, Executive Director, Caspian Policy Center