The Netherlands hosts the 2016 Council meeting

By Mark Blacklock

x  IGU’s Executive

Committee pose for a group photograph before commencing their meeting on October 19.

Held in the Mövenpick Hotel, Amsterdam on October 19 and 20, following sessions of the Coordination Committee and Executive Committee, IGU’s 2016 Council meeting marked the handover from Norway to Spain as host of the Secretariat. Other highlights of the meeting included the accession of two new members, the presentation of IGU’s draft report on fugitive methane emissions and an address by Bjørn Håmsø, Programme Manager of the World Bank-led Global Gas Flaring Reduction (GGFR) Partnership. The Council meeting was followed by workshops on methane emissions and the gas industry in The Netherlands. The event was rounded off with a Diplomatic Gas Forum.

IGU President, David Carroll opened proceedings by welcoming delegates and thanking the Royal Dutch Gas Association (KVGN) for hosting the meeting. He then asked Pål Rasmussen to address his last IGU meeting as Secretary General.

Pål paid tribute to Statoil’s support of the Norwegian Secretariat and to the staff who worked there during the nine-year term between November 2007 and October 2016. “Statoil has been the largest single contributor to IGU in the history of the Union,” he declared.

Diplomas were given to staff and Pål was awarded the title Honorary Secretary General. Delegates were also given a special brochure commemorating Norway’s term as host of the Secretariat.

Incoming Secretary General, Luis Bertrán Rafecas, who formally took over shortly after the Council meeting on November 1, thanked the Norwegian team for working to ensure a smooth handover and introduced his team. Luis also briefed delegates on the latest phase of the Building for the Future project, which is looking at the governance and structure of IGU including the possibility of a permanent Secretariat. The working group led by Luis will report back to the Council in 2017.

“The Building for the Future project,” said David, “is about making sure that this organisation is an effective advocate for natural gas and a provider of highly valued services to its membership which also runs great conferences and events that bolster the profile of IGU and contribute to its financial stability.”

The Council approved four changes in the membership of the Executive Committee with Shinichi Tada taking over from Kyoji Tomita for Japan, Hazli Sham Kassim from Pramod Kumar Karunakaran for Malaysia, Han Fennema from Gertjan Lankhorst for The Netherlands and Scott Ickes from Abdulla Al-Hussaini for Qatar. It also approved the accession of two new Associate Members: the National Gas Society, India and PwC, The Netherlands.

Senior Advisor, Taeksang Kwon gave an update on the marketing strategy to attract new members, saying that the Secretariat was working to enhance membership value and would create the position of Relationship Manager.

Delegates were briefed by Pål on the success of the G20 Natural Gas Day (held on June 29, 2016 and reported on in the last issue of International Gas). “I think this is a very good example of how things progress and mature in this organisation from IGU’s first G20

involvement during the Russian Presidency in 2013,” he said. “We intend to have a major presence during the German G20 Presidency in 2017 and following that during the Argentine Presidency,” added David.

Outgoing Director, Mats Fredriksson gave an update on IGU’s strategic partnerships with other international organisations. He said that five issues have been prioritised: climate change, emissions, energy access, economic development and energy security, while cooperation will be focused on seven organisations: the G20 forum of major economies, International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL), UN Environment

c  Pål Rasmussen and Luis

Bertrán Rafecas marked the handover of the IGU Secretary Generalship at the Council meeting.

c  During the Council

meeting Pål was was awarded the title of Honorary Secretary General by IGU President David Carroll.

z  The Iranian delegation

with IGU’s incoming and outgoing Secretaries General, President and Event’s Coordinator, Rodney Cox. Tehran will host IGRC 2020.

Programme (UNEP), World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Bank. Relationship managers have been appointed with the new Director Rafael Huarte responsible for SE4ALL, UNEP, WHO and the World Bank, Pål for the G20 and Marcel Kramer, IGU’s Regional Coordinator for Russia, the Black Sea and Caspian area for IEA and IRENA.

IGU’s Executive Director Public Affairs, Mel Ydreos presented IGU’s draft report on fugitive methane emissions, which are quickly becoming a significant global climate issue. He said that IGU and the industry need to work to improve the accuracy of measuring methane emissions and share best practices to reduce them.

Mel’s presentation was followed by one from Bjørn Håmsø, Programme Manager of the GGFR Partnership. “Gas flaring is an oil industry issue which also tarnishes the reputation of the gas industry,” he declared, explaining that according to the latest satellite data, some 145 bcm of gas is being flared annually and that the World Bank’s aim is to eliminate routine flaring by 2030.

There were previews of IGU’s participation in COP 22 in Marrakech and the Gas Week in Strasbourg in November 2016, and of four major forthcoming events: the 6th IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum in New Delhi on December 6, 2016, IGRC 2017 in Rio de Janeiro in May 2017, WGC 2018 in Washington DC in June 2018 and LNG 2019 in Shanghai in April 2019. It was also announced that Iran had been elected to host IGRC 2020 in Tehran, the decision having been made by the Executive Committee immediately prior to the Council meeting.

Looking further ahead, Pål and Luis gave details of the procedure for the elections of the country to hold the IGU Presidency for the 2021-2024 Triennium and for the vice chairs of the technical committees for the 2018-2021 Triennium. (Those vice chairs will become the chairs for 2021-2024.) Applications will be assessed by the Executive Committee during its meeting in Muscat in March 2017 and the Council will vote during its next meeting in Tokyo in October 2017.

Matsuhiko Hataba, Vice Chairman and Senior Managing Director of the Japan Gas Association (JGA) invited delegates to the Tokyo meeting, and Satoshi Yoshida, JGA Deputy General Manager, gave details of the programme and venue.

As the most senior Honorary President present, Hans Jørgen Rasmusen (1994-1997) closed the meeting and asked for a vote of thanks for the host, KVGN.

Mark Blacklock is the Consulting Editor of International Systems and Communications.