WGC2022 Session Information

This session will examine the advances in the gas distribution system with the view of system integrity as a platform of Innovation ecosystem for the sustainable future.

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Environmental concerns are affecting all areas of the natural gas value chain including storage. This session will focus on both reducing the environmental impacts of storage and the large role of storage in the in advancing the evolving sustainable energy future.
– Methane Emission and Reductions
– Environmental Assessments of Storage
– Opportunities for Energy Storage in a reduced carbon electric system
– Seasonal Energy Storage
– Storage of unconventional gases

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Good practices of HSSE is gaining public acceptance of gas development and delivery. This session will discuss good practices in HSSE and innovative practices to strengthen public acceptance of gas development and delivery.

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The session will focus on how natural and renewable gas plays a fundamental role for decarbonizing industry and tertiary sector, paying attention to:
– Marketing strategies & Energy demand growth
– Power generation
– Very high energy efficiency industrial and commercial applications
– Other uses (as raw material)
– The comparison to other energy solutions
– The role of renewable gases
– Management and impact of gas quality

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The session will focus on the contribution of natural and renewable gas on getting a sustainable transport, breakdowning by sectors (light duty vehicles, buses, trucks and ships) and paying attention to:
– Environmental benefits
– Economics
– Technologies
– Availability
– Regulatory framework
– Safety
– Public perception
– Challenges and barriers

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Circular economy is an economic model aimed at optimizing consumption of finite sources and minimizing waste, and can be one of the solutions towards a sustainable future. This session will provide insights into the concept, its benefits and its implementation practices in gas business.

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Gas and renewables have a complementing role towards a low carbon emission future. This session will discuss the role of renewables and gas in a decarbonized energy system.

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This session will address data and methods for accounting for greenhouse gas emission from LNG value chain elements and innovations in emission measurements as well as reporting requirements as the worldwide LNG industry works toward reducing its contribution to world greenhouse gas emissions.

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This session will discuss about the application of circular economy concept to improve environmental performance. Using this concept, case studies of interest may include, but not limited to:
1. Water and waste management
2. Emissions reduction
3. Soil and groundwater management
4. Decomissioning – rehabilitation

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Air pollution is a complex problem, which often implicates socio-economic issues, and the solutions are not always easy to implement, the benefits and long-term social and economic welfare gains outweigh the short-term challenges. With prudent policies and appropriate engagement, clean air is attainable and one major common tool is switching from polluting fuels to natural gas. This switch can deliver clean air immediately, as natural gas burns cleanly and is largely free of common air pollutants. This session is about a showcase how big cities find solutions for clean air.

This session will examine:

• How are cities tackling clean air challenges?
• How to tackle communication challenges, including coalition building, winning the argument, engaging stakeholders and talking about innovation
• How is gas playing a role as part of the solution?
• Is gas a long-term solution?

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This session provides successful examples where gas is the key success factor in energy transition despite high capital expenditures. It focusses on the pathway from emission intense fuels like coal or oil to natural gas to lower emissions based on efficient solutions and technologies that are already available now. The session will illustrate the role played by natural gas to significantly reduce emissions in the power generation, heating, transport sectors, to improve the air.

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The world and energy are changing. The level of demand on companies as a vector of transition towards greener energies and the agendas of the organizations make it necessary to reflect on the non-domestic field. We are looking for examples and case studies of the role of natural gas in the commercial, industrial and power generation, as a solution that can help implementation of zero carbon transition.

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Complementary roles of natural gas and renewables can lead towards a low CO2 emission future. This session will discuss about innovation of gas and renewables, transformation of natural gas, and alternative renewable sources such as biogas and hydrogen in existing gas infrastructure.

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This session will present new and efficient developments, which are reducing emissions e.g. by heat integration, start-up optimization, use of artificial intelligence, smart process control etc.

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Mobility in any of its different disciplines will continue to focus the agenda at all levels. People, merchandise, have to keep moving and natural gas will take a leading role as a less polluting alternative.

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This session will explore tools and innovations to become greener and greener ensuring at the same time a safe and a reliable introduction of renewable gases and the minimization of emissions.

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In this session, the specific cases of technologies and innovation which have been adopted in the gas industry and shown a potential role overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic will be categorized and discussed in terms of sustainability aspects. This session is also exploring the direction of the development of the technologies and innovation of gas industry for the post COVID-19 era.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has created the urgency to digitize the industry. Digital enablers from process digitization to robotics and automation are essential to sustain remote operations safely, reduce capital expenditure and cut up-stream operating costs.
This session will examine:
· advances in sensors, remote control and operations, automation and virtualization applications;
· Geo spatial analytics for increasing the safety and efficiency of gas operations, logistics, supply-chain and distribution networks;
· advanced analytics to decrease maintenance costs and increase productivity and sustainability of upstream operations;
· 4-D seismic imaging and all applications that measure and predict reservoir fluid characteristics and increase recovery rates.

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This session will explore how gas distribution grids with Information & Communication Technology can be used to better meet the needs of customers and to promote decentralized and integrated local energy markets.

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Gas will play an essential role in the future energy mix. This session is dedicated to investigate the future requirement for future exploration and development and will cover:
– decline of current world resources coming from brown fields, expected peak gas with and without new development;
– all the types of development including conventional and unconventional resources, extension of mature onshore and offshore fields etc.;
– main limiting development factors : technical, human resources, social, environmental;
– investments required to develop such resources (capital available, private vs public);
– geopolitics: which producing countries will satisfy this supply?

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This session will examine how TSOs can increase the flexibility, resilience and affordability of energy systems, through sector coupling and market integrations.

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This session will provide an insight on projected or existing projects thought to reach new customers by break bulk and road/rail transport of LNG:
a) Economics justifying the investment
b) Showcase of how they can help the economic development of remote areas

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This session will focus on advances in underground gas storage safety. It will explore several aspects of safety including; changes to codes and standards and the drivers of these changes; risk analysis and integrity management programs and techniques, and operational and procedures safety changes. Also explored will be design and construction issues that affect safe storage systems and ongoing operations.

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This session will provide best practice and case studies for enabling use of the existing natural gas distribution network to transport hydrogen safely at the lowest cost within the shortest timescales.

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The session will examine technologies for the recovery of unconventional, deep, stranded or otherwise difficult-to-recover natural gas reserves and resources such as:
· best practices and improvements in the knowledge base, controlling characteristics as well as advances in reservoir characterization, well completions and stimulation technologies for EGR;
· digital outcrop modeling with terrestrial scanning lidar and laser technology;
· surface micro seismic imaging for hydraulic-fracture monitoring in reservoir characterization;
· distributed compression technology, including automated MCUs (modular compressor units);
· hydraulic fracturing of the reservoir increasing oil and gas recovery at the final stage of field development.

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This session discusses technologies that address complex gas-industry challenges including:
– carbon sequestration: carbon-capture and storage (CCS) technologies and projects related to carbon-dioxide emissions-capture, transportation and storage;
– natural gas hydrates:
• natural gas hydrates (NGH) extraction technologies;
• technologies for the exploration and production of gas from hydrate deposits in different geological formations;
– permafrost:
• placement strategies and best practices for wells and facilities in permafrost applications;
• use of vapor-liquid heat stabilizers and thermally insulated pipes for wells that reduce permafrost impact;
– other technologies:
• environmentally sustainable drilling and completion technologies and methodologies;
• seismic imaging including fibre-optic imaging and seismic data-processing.

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This session will present new LNG carrier and short-based technologies for transportation and storage of LNG that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cargoes, prime mover operation and cargo loading and unloading.

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This session will be composed of discussing the new distribution field services.

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Storage design and operation has always been a source of innovation and new technology. This session will explore some of the current and emerging technology in the inspection of wells and reservoirs, design and modeling, testing, storage station operations, and storage of unconventional gases.
This session will look at:
– Inspection of wells, reservoirs and caverns
– Design Innovations
– Reservoir Modeling
– Storage Compression and Dehydration Innovations

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This session will explore the following key topics:
– Can new pipeline deployment technology speed up the access to new markets?
– Can you reduce the end user cost of gas by introducing digitalization

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Storage has been a fundamental part of the natural gas value chain for decades. This provides a wide range of technical challenges not only from aging reservoirs and wells but also from current industry changes that can impact storage. This session will address some of those challenges including issues around aging infrastructure and new challenges around renewable natural gases and hydrogen in the natural gas grids, and other emerging technical and operational challenges to storage operations.
This session will look at:
– Aging of reservoirs and wells
– Renewable Gases, their growth and impact on new and existing storages
– Hydrogen and storage
– Storage in non-traditional geologies

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This session will showcase the new distribution products.

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This session will examine the evolution of gas and LNG contracts to understand which clauses changed over the past years, providing the reason for the changes and whether those changes are sustainable over time.

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Gas demand will play a key role in the future energy transition. The session will focus on new demand in power generation, industry, transports, petrochemicals and domestic usages:
· gas will compete with nuclear energy to displace coal and support renewable energy in electric generation;
· in transports gas and more specifically LNG will compete with electricity and hydrogen to displace oil for cars, trucks and boats;
· in housing (heating, hot water) gas will compete with electricity (heat pump) to displace fuel and coal;
· in Industry gas will be the best option to replace fuel and coal.

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During the last 15 years there has been a global trend towards market-based pricing for natural gas. However, regulated price formation mechanism still has an important market share. This session will focus on developments in price formation patterns, both on global and regional levels, diversity of modes of price origination and their evolution.

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This session will explore the commercial innovation in contracting to capture new demand.
– How do new indices and destination flexibility offer more value to buyers?
– Will CNG and LNG for land and marine transportation play pivotal roles as solutions to increase gas demand?
– Small scale solutions for penetrating niche and untapped markets will cover how LNG barge/ISO tanks/gas to power/bulk breaking play a role in tapping into new markets.

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Storage operations around the world face widely different market conditions. This session will present the current world storage capacities, explore market differences, and discuss unrecognized values of storage. It will also look at new market opportunities for energy storage, whether through storage of new gases or the storage as a backbone to support renewable electricity production.
– Future role of Underground Storage
– Market opportunities and barriers in different geographical areas
– Seasonal Markets, Demand Based Markets
– Current Storage Statistics

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This session will look at how much the scenarios of gas market development depend on ecology-related assumptions. This session will analyze that the implementation of the Paris Agreement will increase natural gas consumption in the mid-term and long-term.

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The spread of the deadly COVID-19 has impacted the gas industry and markets as well as other industries.
In this session, the impacts will be categorized and discussed in terms of sustainability aspects.
This session is also exploring the technical, social, economic aspects of the impacts and the post COVID-19 outlook of gas industry and markets.

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This session will review how TSOs are creating and maintaining their social licence with stakeholders through proactive engagement for general interest and preservation of climate and biodiversity.

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This session will address which emerging gas technologies will enable a systemic solution that support a low carbon energy system that includes heat, power, and mobility. This includes but is not limited to technologies such as Hydrogen (blue and green), Biogas, Power to Gas, LNG. Participants will share how these technologies should couple with low carbon electrical systems to achieve a resilient and economically viable energy system. Finally, the panel will highlight the key challenges facing adoption of these technologies sharing the regulatory, policy, and financial developments from their geographic regions, including suggested solutions to overcome these barriers.

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As the penetration of renewable electricity increases, the instability of the power grid increases and thus challenges for the local energy system increase. These can be met by the gas system, as fuel cells, hybrid heating, hybrid industrial high temperature systems, GHP, and micro-CHP generate options for smart integrated energy networks. The best mixture of gas and electricity will constitute constructs mutually complementary system. The session will focus on how gas can be used to create smarter grids, and combined with virtual power plant (VPP) gas utilization is an instrument for improving reliability and resilience.

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This session will address major technological innovations that are currently being deployed or are targeted for deployment across the LNG value chain, which represent breakthroughs in expanding the market for LNG, reduce costs of energy delivered in the form of LNG, and increase the safety and sustainability of the LNG system designs and operations. Innovations covered will comprise of technologies serving the traditional LNG value chain and new market applications including small scale LNG, remote natural gas development, transportation markets including land vehicles and marine vessels, and other novel applications.

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New technologies and products that will enable industry to leverage big data to better engage consumers and manage our gas systems. This session includes the following:
– Solutions for GHG emission reductions in household gas installations
– Use of blockchain for residential consumers

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This session aims to give an overview of how TSOs are creating value for stakeholders by driving innovation through digitalization and the implementation of best practice management systems.

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This session will cover:
– New technologies and products that will enable industry to leverage big data to better engage consumers and manage our gas systems
– Use of blockchain for residential consumers.
– Solutions for GHG emission reductions in household gas installations.

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Digital transformation has accelerated in the gas industry. Digitalization offers multiple benefits in E&P areas: uncovering new resources, enhancing the mining efficiencies, and dramatic cost saving. Blockchain is providing emerging opportunities to revolutionize trading and payment systems. Leveraging and deploying emerging digital technologies into the O&M of gas infrastructure realize breakthrough improvements in evaluating the integrity and safety, effective operation, and reducing the cost. In end-use sectors, intelligent and smart systems and a variety of new services with digital technology is being provided to customers. This session will address the latest digital transformation in the gas industry.

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This session will address new technologies and technological approaches for introducing renewable natural gases (RNG) and power-to-gas feedstocks into traditional transport and end use natural gas systems, equipment, and appliances. Presentations will cover technological innovations, optimization of operating practices, technical and operational challenges, and beneficial outcomes of these mixed gas approaches to gaseous fuel supply.

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This session will focus on applications and tools to enhance optimizations in transmission systems.

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This session aims to explore how natural gas can complement and partner with renewable energy sources to achieve net zero emissions, including:
– Examples of natural gas partnering with variable renewable electricity and natural gas, low carbon gases, decarbonized gases and renewable gases
– The need for customized energy frameworks to balance decarbonization, reliability and affordability through energy sector integration
– Recognizing the important role of all gases (natural gas, low-carbon and renewable) in the evolving energy supply mix
– Policy settings required to support continued financing and development of gases (natural gas resources , low-carbon/renewable gases)

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As power becomes cleaner around the world, gas industry is facing the challenge to re-shape its classical product: natural gas. It could be blended with biogas, hydrogen or syngas. Hydrogen from renewable source or produced from methane might turn into a welcomed option to lower emissions in cities or in entire sectors like transportation. Is there a synergy between these different types of gases or will the amount of greener gases remain insignificant? This session will throw a light on different options, first experiences and forecasts for different markets.

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Around the world, gas companies and associations are developing Energy Visions – long term views on how the energy markets can develop, and what the role of gas is in it. These Energy Visions make sure our sector stays part of the important conversation on a sustainable energy vision. It makes sure we
are relevant in the debate. This session seeks to inspire IGU members to share their Energy Visions positioning, launches and communication initiatives.

This session will examine:

• Examples of Energy Visions from around the world by companies and associations.
• Best practices and lessons learned on how to position effectively & successfully this energy vision.
• Communication expert view: Insights & principles to communicate in a compelling & confident
  manner.
• Outside-in view: Successful examples from other industry sectors.

 

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The world is changing fast, and so is the gas sector. New business models are disrupting our business. These disruptive business models go hand in hand with new approaches to marketing.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have generated profound changes in the structures and conceptions of organizations, both in the ways of working and in the interaction with their audiences. There is an evident communication and management dimension in the marketing of these technologies that needs to be addressed for a better understanding of current organizational dynamics.

This session will analyze marketing for the gas industry with a specific focus on positioning ICT strategies such as business intelligence, big data customer relationship management, e-marketing, mobile marketing, Geographic information systems, monitoring and analysis, Blockchain technology for delivering more transparency; tactics to encourage culture of innovation and technology adoption and to promote new digital thinking, among others.

The objectives are:

• To identify best practices, guidelines and ideas to improve the use of information and communication technologies to achieving marketing goals.
• To analyse barriers present in the processes of technological change within gas industry.
• To encourage the development of strategic criteria for the application of information and communication technology tools in organizational processes.
• To examine the main tools of information, communication, and marketing technologies in the internal and external activities of organizational communication.

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This session aims to explore energy, financial and tax policies to drive decarbonisation and the achievement of Net Zero emissions, including the short term GHG and Methane Emissions abatement. Topics will include practical examples to be provided by:
– The analysis provided by the specialists in the companies
– The vision from global, regional and national policy makers/analysts
– The point of view of all kind of financial institutions
– The debates in the Academia and Think Tanks
– The influence of NGOs and others in the Civil Society
– The impact on policy of debates of the Mass Media and Social Networks
– The impact of decarbonisation policies on Security of Supply, Security of Demand, Transit and Trade of gas

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This session will define:
– The changing business & market environments for gas players
– The strategies which gas players have taken in the changing business & market environments
– In what direction are gas players’ strategies proceeding with

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This session aims to explore how the gas industry responds to the energy policies targeting decarbonisation and adapts its business models. Topic will include practical examples and cases, both successful or failures to learn from:
– The case of global gas/energy corporations active in several jurisdictions having to cope with a multiplicity of policies.
– The case of regional and national/local companies serving in jurisdictions dealing with the same policy.
– How new entrants are taking the opportunities created by the incoming policies.
– The cases of successful partnership between gas/energy with electricity companies and other stakeholders.
– The new potential businesses and the entrepreneurship

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Price regulation by the governments significantly affects attractiveness of gas industry for investments both domestic and external. This session will explore domestic price regulation patterns, impediments for the market reforms, affects of government intervention on price setting, different strategies of market liberalization.

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Are gas-based technologies more efficient compared to alternatives like coal or even renewables? This session will provide comparisons for all three sectors: power, heating, transportation. Benchmark could be either tons of CO2 reduction or efficiency increase achieved per investment.

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This session aims to explore the evolving role of gases in achieving clean, safe, reliable and affordable Energy for All, including:
– The role of gases in under-developed, developing and developed economies
– Fostering economic development and the importance of energy security
– Gas technologies that are enabling improvements in air quality, health and energy access in remote communities
– Balancing decarbonization and net zero emissions targets with affordability and reliability

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This session aims to explore the policy settings required to support continued investment in and development of, natural gas resources and infrastructure in developing economies including:
– The critical role of government policy in facilitating energy access
– The key components of effective government policy
– The role of targets and subsidies in supporting infrastructure development
– Financing trends for developing economies; what is needed to support continued investment in gas?
– The potential unintended consequences of net zero emissions targets on energy access in developing nations

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This session aims to give an overview of the power of social media, question whether the gas industry globally is leveraging this powerful medium, consider examples of where it is being used effectively and hear from social media experts with advice on how to strategize efficiently.

This session will examine:

• How to connect a common message on a global scale.
• How to target the right stakeholders with the right message via social media.
• How to navigate the social media landscape.
• What platforms work best, when and how.
• What are case studies of successful social media programmes.
• How to disseminate real-time news and promote information discovery.

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Due to the tight labor market, it is more difficult than ever to find talented employees. The high speed for talented professionals and the extremely limited supply of them on the labor market creates tensions. Logically, new candidate employees are also becoming more assertive and demanding more
from their employer. Attractive salary packages, career opportunities and an inviting corporate culture are all high on the wish list of candidates. This session is about getting insights on how the gas companies can attract and retain talent in a competitive environment.

This session will examine:

• Building a strong employer brand
• Creating an aligned workforce
• How to attract a new kind of talent: renewable, chemical, automation, AI, machine learning
• Binding and captivating talents

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Environmental policies either global or national have developed a number of mechanisms to expedite a move towards low carbon future. Such mechanisms include carbon taxes emission trading schemes, feed-in tariffs, preferential offtake and subsidies. This has changed competitive landscape for natural gas both as input for the power plants, the industry and the households. In this session we will address impact of these policies on gas competitiveness and consumption patterns and fuel switching. The session will consider a positioning of natural gas as public good.

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This session aims to define and consider the impact of NGDES on gas affordability.

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This session will consider the Innovations to minimize prices of gas and optimize safety of supply.

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The session provides examples of gas technologies and energy systems (including integrated electrical/gas systems) with overall efficiency gains. Efficiency includes the categories of energy transition cost, time to market, speed of decarbonization, improvement in flexibility and security of supply and other.

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