The 22nd World Petroleum Congress, an international premier event of the oil & gas industry, was held in Istanbul, Turkey from 9th to 13th July 2017. The India Pavilion was set up under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. ONGC had been entrusted the responsibility of organizing and setting up the India Pavilion at the WPC.
The design of the India Pavilion evoked the national bird, the peacock, and was centred around the theme “A billion people… a billion opportunities”. The vast open design of the India pavilion had a very welcoming appeal that invited foreign investors to invest in the hydrocarbon sector in India. Built on an area of more than 2000 sqft, the exhibit consisted of kiosks representing ONGC, OIL, GAIL, HPCL, BPCL, IOCL, EIL, DGH and Invest India.
The pavilion was inaugurated on 10 July 2017 by Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, who was accompanied by Mr. D K Sarraf, CMD, ONGC and Mr. Sanjiv Singh, CMD, IOCL. The Bharatanatyam and Kathak performances stole the show during the inauguration.
Over the course of the WPC, the pavilion was well received by delegates, exhibitors and visitors, who were attracted by the unique design and by the prospect of “Make in India”. Among the notable visitors were Mr. Fatih Dönmez, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Turkey and Mr. Besim Şişman, Chairman & CEO of Turkish Petroleum AO.
Hon’ble Minister of P&NG, Mr. Pradhan addressed a plenary session on 10 July 2017 and hosted a road show on the Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy on 11 July 2017 which were both very well-received. CMD ONGC, Mr. Sarraf and other delegates from our sister NOC’s also addressed several sessions over the next 3 days.
The closing ceremony of the India Pavilion was held on 13 July 2017, and was chaired by Mr. Sanjiv Singh, CMD, IOCL. A traditional Turkish Sufi Dervish performance ended the WPC marking the theme of burgeoning Indo-Turkish energy cooperation.