Minister Frydenberg’s speech will be a highlight of the conference’s opening plenary session – titled “Competing for growth”. Other speakers in that session include Shell Australia Country Chair, Andrew Smith and APPEA Chairman Bruce Lake. Mr Lake will outline the current state of the Australian industry, the key issues it faces, and the actions APPEA is pursuing to support the industry’s competitiveness and its further growth.
APPEA has also announced several other prominent speakers for the various plenary sessions that will be staged over the three-day event.
The second plenary session of Monday 6 June is “The global energy landscape post the Paris climate change conference – what role for natural gas?”? It features Cameron Hepburn, Environmental Economics Professor at Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, who will make a keynote speech titled “The role of gas in the transition to net zero emissions”?. Origin Energy Managing Director, Grant King, will also present in that session, giving a speech entitled “Natural gas: the flexible, reliable and sustainable fuel”?.
In the Tuesday morning plenary -“The future of energy” – Woodside CEO and Managing Director, Peter Coleman, will provide a producer’s perspective on “The future of energy and the role of Australian oil and gas”. Other speakers in this session include Peter Hartley, Rice University’s Mitchell Chair in Economics and the University of Western Australia’s BHP Billiton Chair in Economics, Regina Mayor, KPMG’s US National Sector Leader – Energy, Natural Resources and Chemicals and John Lyndon, McKinsey Australia and New Zealand Managing Partner.
Day three begins with a plenary session examining how the industry can innovate and take advantage of new technologies. Speakers in this session include: Francis O’Sullivan, Director of Research, MIT Energy Initiative. The MIT Energy Initiative is the hub for energy research, education, and outreach for the world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US; Jim Whalley, Chief Executive Officer of Nova Systems who will outline how LNG projects can maximise efficiencies and cost savings by using aerospace systems engineering principles; and Clough Chief Executive Officer, Peter Bennett.
The plenary sessions will wind up on Wednesday afternoon with a highly topical discussion on stakeholder engagement.
PNG legend, Oil Search Managing Director Peter Botten CBE, will open the session with a presentation called “Beyond Community Engagement: Corporate Social Responsibility”. Other speakers in this session include John Cotter, Chairman of the GasFields Commission of Queensland, Seiya Ito, INPEX President Director Australia and Diane Smith-Gander, Chairman of Broadspectrum Limited.