Dubbed as the “Olympics of Petroleum,” the 22nd World Petroleum Congress (WPC), which gathered top managers of the leading oil and gas companies, was held from July 9 to July 13 in Istanbul, the Turkish media reported on Friday. 

During the closing ceremony, Turkey’s Energy Ministry undersecretary Fatih Donmez handed over the official emblem of the WPC to the host of the next congress, Sylvester Turner, the mayor of the US city of Houston.

Speaking at the ceremony, Donmez said, “Around 3,000 delegates from more than 90 countries had participated in the congress in the past four days.”

President of the World Petroleum Council, Jozsef Laszlo Toth, praised the congress saying, “The 22nd WPC is and will be a memorable congress, in which we enjoyed the warm hospitality of our Turkish host.”

Chairman of the Turkish National Committee and CEO of Turkish Petroleum, Besim Sisman said, “It has been almost four years since Istanbul was elected as the host of the 22nd WPC. During the congress presidents, ministers from many countries and over 500 sector executives, as well as thousands of delegates all of us, underlined the significance of cooperation and sustainable management.”

“Global energy demand is going up but investing is getting harder every day due to increasing operational costs and low oil prices,” he added.

High-level executives from leading energy companies and up to 50 energy ministers attended the triennial congress, of which the theme was “Bridges to our Energy Future.” Among the top officials who attended the congress were presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Serbia — Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ilham Aliyev, Aleksandar Vucic, respectively.

Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak as well as his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak, Bahrain Oil Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Khalifa and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India Dharmendra Pradhan also attended to the congress.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson received the highest recognition of the World Petroleum Council, the Dewhurst Award, in Istanbul on Sunday.