The 6th Russian Energy Week, a major annual international forum, kicked off at the Manege Central Exhibition Hall in Moscow on Wednesday.
This year, the forum's theme is "The New Reality of Global Energy: Building the Future," with delegations expected to discuss various topics such as global energy pricing, climate change, supplies of energy resources and raw materials, and prospects for oil markets, among other things.
On Wednesday, the plenary session, the forum's main event, will take place at 1 p.m. Moscow time (10:00 GMT). Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate in the session. He is expected to be joined by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Myanmar Electricity Minister Nyan Tun will address the panel on technological sovereignty and prospects for low-carbon energy industry, which will also be held on Wednesday.
Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom's Director General Alexey Likhachev and Indian Ambassador to Russia Pavan Kapoor will also take part in the panel, among other officials and business representatives.
The second day of the forum will begin with the panel on the current situation in the global oil and gas market, with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Prime Minister of the Republika of Srpska Radovan Viskovic, Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Parviz Shahbazov, and Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez participating in the event. The discussion will focus on the impact of current geopolitical challenges on the market and the future role of such platforms as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in the global economy, among other topics.
The panel on Russia-Africa energy cooperation will also be held on Thursday. Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov will be joined by Gabriel Aduda, the permanent secretary of the Nigerian Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber NJ Ayuk to discuss current joint energy projects of Russia and African countries as well as opportunities and challenges in energy partnership.
The forum will take place against the backdrop of surging global oil prices over the past few months driven by voluntary production cuts by OPEC+ countries, especially Russia and Saudi Arabia, aimed at stabilizing pricing.
The increase in prices could further be sparked by a major escalation in the Middle East as the Palestinian movement Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, prompting Israel to declare a state of war the following day. On Monday, London-traded Brent and New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude grew by 4.2% and 4.3% respectively amid fears that the fighting between Hamas and Israel could escalate into a broader regional conflict.