The World Petroleum Council (WPC) is a non-advocacy, non-political organization with charitable status in the U.K. and has accreditation as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) from the United Nations (UN). The WPC is dedicated to the promotion of sustainable use and management of the world’s petroleum resources for the benefit of all.
WPC conducts the triennial World Petroleum Congress, covering all aspects of the industry including management of the industry and its social, economic and environmental impact. In addition, outside stakeholders such as governments, other industry sectors, NGOs and international institutions have also joined in the dialogue.
WPC Membership Statistics
- Nearly 65 Member countries world wide
- Representing over 95% of the world’s oil and gas consumption and production
- Covering all five continents
- Since 1933
- UN accredited
Member Countries
Algeria
Angola Argentina Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Belgium Bosnia & Herzegovina
Brazil Bulgaria
Canada China Colombia Croatia Cuba Cyprus
Czech Republic Denmark Egypt France Germany
|
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Iran Israel Japan Kazakhstan Korea Kuwait Libya
Macedonia Mexico
Morocco Netherlands Nigeria Norway Oman
Pakistan Peru
Poland
Qatar
Romania
|
Russia
Saudi Arabia Serbia Sierra Leone Slovak Republic Slovenia South Africa Spain Suriname Sweden Switzerland
Thailand
Trinidad & Tobago
Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom
Uruguay USA Venezuela Vietnam |

World Petroleum Council Vision
The WPC’s core value and purpose, as stated in the Articles of Association, centers on sustaining and improving the lives of people throughout the world.
The World Petroleum Council’s (WPC) main purpose is to catalyze and facilitate dialogue amongst internal and external stakeholders aimed at seeking solutions to key technical, social, environmental and management challenges in global energy issues for the benefit of mankind. In doing so, the WPC will contribute towards sustainable growth.
The WPC does not take a position on the key issues facing oil and gas; but it provides a forum where the solutions to key challenges can be addressed.
The World Petroleum Congress
Every three years, the World Petroleum Council organizes the World Petroleum Congress as the principal meeting place for a global discussion of oil and gas issues. Following a twelve month campaign period, one of the candidate countries is selected by its fellow Council members to host the next World Petroleum Congress. Following the 21st World Petroleum Congress in Moscow from 15-19 June 2014 in Moscow, Turkey will be the next host of the 22nd World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul in 2017 (www.22wpc.com)
2017 – 22nd WPC, Istanbul | 1983 – 11th WPC, London |
2014 – 21st WPC, Moscow | 1979 – 10th WPC, Bucharest |
2011 – 20th WPC, Doha | 1975 – 9th WPC, Tokyo |
2008 – 19th WPC, Madrid | 1971 – 8th WPC, Moscow |
2005 – 18th WPC, Johannesburg | 1967 – 7th WPC, Mexico City |
2002 – 17th WPC, Rio | 1963 – 6th WPC, Frankfurt |
2000 – 16th WPC, Calgary | 1959 – 5th WPC, New York |
1997 – 15th WPC, Beijing | 1955 – 4th WPC, Rome |
1994 – 14th WPC, Stavanger | 1951 – 3rd WPC, The Hague |
1991 – 13th WPC, Buenos Aires | 1937 – 2nd WPC, Paris |
1987 – 12th WPC, Houston | 1933 – 1st WPC, London |
Beyond the triennial Congress, the World Petroleum Council is regularly involved with a number of other meetings such as the WPC Youth Forum, the WPC-UN Global Compact Best Practice Forum a joint WPC / OPEC workshop on CO2 sequestration, reduction of methane flaring, opportunities for enhanced oil recovery, dispute resolution, calculating reserves and resources, regional integration and the oil, gas and infrastructure developments in Africa.
Mission, Values and Principles
Mission
The WPC is the only organization representing the global oil and gas community. The Council’s core value and purpose centers on sustaining and improving the lives of people around the world, through:
- enhanced understanding of issues and challenges.
- networking opportunities in a global forum.
- co-operation (partnerships) with other organizations
- an opportunity to showcase the industry and demonstrate best practice.
- information dissemination via congresses, reports, regional meetings and workshops.
- initiatives for educating young people on energy matters.
- awareness of environmental issues, conservation of energy and sustainable solutions
Values
The WPC values strongly:
- Respect for individuals and cultures world wide
- Unbiased and objective views
- Integrity
- Transparency
- Good governance
- A positive perception of energy from petroleum
- Science and technology
- The views of all stakeholders
- And the management of the world’s petroleum resources for the benefit of all
Principles
The WPC seeks to be identified with its mission and flexible enough so that it can embrace change and adapt to it. The WPC has to be:
- pro-active and responsive to changes and not merely led by them
- creative and visionary, so that we add value for all
- challenging, so that our goals require effort to attain but are realistic and achievable
- focused, so that our goals are clear and transparent
- understandable to all
Key Strategic Areas
World Class Congress
to deliver a quality, premier world class oil and gas congress
Inter Congress Activities
to organize fora for cooperation and other activities on specific topics and to organize regional events of relevance to WPC members and all stakeholders
Co-operation eith other stakeholders
to add value by cooperating with other organizations to seek synergies and promote best practice.
Communication
to increase awareness, of WPC’s activities, through enhanced communication, both internally and externally.
Global Representation
to attract and retain worldwide involvement in WPC.
Youth (and Gender) Engagement
to increase the participation of young people and women in oil and gas issues, including the establishment of a dedicated Youth Committee for the development of active networking opportunities with young people.
Legacy
to create a central WPC legacy fund to benefit communities and individuals around the world based on WPC’s mission
Structure
The Council is the governing body of the World Petroleum Council which convenes once a year. Its global membership elects the President and an Executive Committee every three years to develop and execute its strategy. The Council also selects the host country for the next World Petroleum Congress from the candidate countries. To ensure the scientific and topical quality of the event the Council elects a Congress Program Committee whose members are responsible for delivering the high-level content for its Congresses.
The Secretariat of the World Petroleum Council is based in London, under the leadership of the Director General and his dedicated team.