Special sessions on the Middle East war have been added to the program following the first Israeli-American strikes.
Thousands of oil and gas industry leaders and actors are converging in Texas for the sector’s largest global meeting, disrupted by the shockwave of the war in the Middle East.
The American city of Houston is hosting this forum, CERAWeek, for a week, with over 10,000 expected participants. The organizers have adjusted their plans: special sessions on the war have been added to the program following the initial Israeli-American strikes.
The crisis is rocking the global economy and gas and oil prices continue to soar. “This will be a CERAWeek that will go down in history,” said Mark Brownstein of the Environmental Defense Fund, who attends every year.
“The biggest disruption in the history of the global oil market”
The war has taken on a new dimension in recent days with strikes targeting oil and gas production sites directly, not just their storage and transportation. “We are witnessing the biggest disruption in the history of the global oil market,” warned Daniel Yergin of S&P Global and president of the CERAWeek conference, during a briefing.
Starting Monday morning, business leaders, politicians, investors, and experts are expected to discuss the energy sector, as well as international trade, artificial intelligence, rare earths, nuclear fusion, and more.
Market players will be particularly attentive to the speech by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Monday at 13:40 GMT. They will scrutinize any announcement about the conflict or possible new measures from the Donald Trump government to contain the rise in oil prices.
Maria Corina Machado expected on Tuesday
Several energy industry executives will follow suit throughout the week, including Michael Wirth (Chevron), Patrick Pouyanné (TotalEnergies), Wael Sawan (Shell), and Jack Fusco (Cheniere Energy).
Like last year, the U.S. executive’s backtracking on climate policies and its consequences will be closely watched. Since returning to power for a second term, Donald Trump has revived coal mining and encouraged oil exploitation.
He has once again withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Agreement and dismantled several environmental standards adopted by previous administrations. His decisions dismay environmental NGOs. One of them, Texas Campaign for the Environment, has planned a gathering on the opening day of CERAWeek.
The 2026 edition will feature several international political figures, including Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who is set to speak on Tuesday in a session about the “future of Venezuela.
