Tillerson to attend World Petr. Congress in Istanbul

By Ebru Sengul

ANKARA (AA) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will pay a visit to Turkey to attend the upcoming 22nd World Petroleum Congress and will receive the highest honor from the World Petroleum Council, the Dewhurst Award, World Petroleum Council (WPC) announced on Tuesday.

The 22nd World Petroleum Congress, of which Anadolu Agency is the global communication partner, will be held in Istanbul between July 9 and 13, 2017.

"Rex W. Tillerson, [ex] chairman and [former] chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, is being recognized for his outstanding contribution to the oil and gas industry with the highest honor of the World Petroleum Council, the Dewhurst Award," the WPC statement read.

"This distinguished lifetime achievement award celebrates his exceptional leadership of the largest publicly traded oil and gas company in the world over the past 10 years," it added.

Tillerson is only the tenth recipient of the Dewhurst Award in the history of the WPC, since its inception in 1993 when the then president of the Institute of Petroleum in U.K., Thomas Dewhurst, organized what was to become the first World Petroleum Congress, the Council explained.

"Rex Tillerson will receive the award during the Dewhurst Ceremony at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul on July 13, 2017," WPC noted.

The Council underlined that more than 5,000 delegates, including 50 ministers, 500 CEOs and more than 1,000 press representatives will attend the Congress.

"Rex Tillerson has been an inspiration for our industry, blazing the trail on integrity, global cooperation and technical innovation,” Dr Jozsef Toth, president of the WPC, was quoted as saying.

“He has created an enormous legacy as an exceptional leader and groundbreaking operator in the global oil and gas sector. It was a pleasure to welcome him, as a plenary speaker to our previous congresses in Moscow, Doha and Madrid and it will be an honor to present him with our highest award. On behalf of our board and the 70 member countries of the World Petroleum Council, I am delighted to congratulate him on this recognition,” Toth added.

The triennial World Petroleum Congress is widely known as the "Olympics" of the petroleum industry. It covers all aspects of the industry from technological advances in upstream and downstream operations to the role of natural gas and renewables, management of the industry and its social, economic and environmental impact.