State heads and top executives from more than 20 countries are to gather at Sola Strand Hotell, western Norway, on the day prior to ONS’ start.

A preliminary list of attendees includes politicians the Foreign Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Oil and Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe, and Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Maxime Verhagen.

Faroese Prime Minister Kaj Leo Holm Johannesen, and His Excellency U Than Htay, Myanmar’s Energy Minister, have also said they will be coming. Moreover, there will be state leaders from Tanzania, Brazil, South Africa, and Ghana, amongst others.

"Like a mini Davos"

Leiv Lunde, director of Oslo’s Fridtjof Nansen Institute, compares the forthcoming meeting with the World Economic Forum, which gathers about 2,000 participants at an annual summit in the Swiss town of Davos.

“It's almost like a mini, or energy Davos. The concept is quite the same, where politicians and top business people are brought together,” he tells Aftenbladet.

ONS project leader Oddveig Haga says she has spent a long time securing the top names that were able to come.

“This is not an easy bunch of people to get hold of,” she declares.

Discuss energy paradoxes

Some of the key business leaders attending include Statoil CEO Helge Lund, Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser, Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips, Saudi Aramco vice president Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal, and President and CEO of Lundin Petroleum, Ashley Heppenstall.

“It will be a meeting place where they feel relaxed and form networks. We want them to get together and discuss the energy paradoxes. To solve these requires dialogue, and we hope this will lead to increased understanding of the different points of view,” concludes Oddveig Haga.

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