30-10-2013

Istanbul wins bid to host 22nd World Petroleum Congress in 2017

“This time – Istanbul!” was the motto for the Turkish delegation as they faced the USA with Houston, Kazakhstan with Astana and Denmark with Copenhagen in the election to host the 22nd World Petroleum Congress in 2017. In a tightly run competition, Istanbul won the right to host the prestigious Congress with 55% of the votes in the third round against its strongest rival Houston with 45%.

Addressing delegates at the WPC Council Meeting, the Deputy Minister for Energy and Industry, Murat Mercan, the Ambassador of Turkey to Canada, HE Tuncay Babali and Turkey’s WPC National Committee Chairman, Besim ÅžiÅŸman, the CEO of TPAO, were on hand to present their bid to the 52 WPC member countries represented at the election in Calgary, Canada.

Following the announcement, the Chair of the Turkish National Committee expressed his delight and said it was an honour for Istanbul to be chosen as the venue of the 22nd World Petroleum Congress in 2017. “We are very happy and extremely excited at this very moment! All the candidates did their best. This was Istanbul's third candidacy which has shown our commitment to the WPC Family. We thank you all for believing in us and promise to organise a Congress which will be one of the best ever in the beautiful city of Istanbul. Turkey is our country, but Istanbul is the city of all. See you in Istanbul!"

WPC President, Dr Renato Bertani, stressed the close outcome of the vote and congratulated Turkey on their success: “This has been a very strongly contested election, with four highly qualified and well prepared candidates to host the 2017 World Petroleum Congress. I would like to thank the USA, Denmark, Kazakhstan and Turkish National Committees and their supporting organisations and governments for their huge efforts and highly professional and ethical promotional campaigns. Now we all look forward to another outstanding Congress in the beautiful and hospitable city of Istanbul."

All candidates had been conducting an extensive lobbying campaign from January 2013. They visited many of the 70 WPC member countries in person to promote their bids to host the prestigious event. As the “Olympics” of the oil and gas sector, the Congress attracts large attendances with over 6000 delegates, 500 Ministers and CEOs and around 25,000 visitors for the World Petroleum Exhibition, one of the largest strategic oil and gas expos in the world.

Turkey will kick off its promotion for the 2017 Congress at the 21st WPC in Moscow, Russia, from 15-19 June next year.