The Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) has been meeting Houston, Texas for the last 35 years. Over the years, the event has transformed in to 5-day long conference offering informational sessions and networking opportunities call CERAWeek by IHS Markit. The conference, usually attended by around 5,000 people from over 80 countries, is usually a major event for Houston. But not this year.
A Last Minute Decision
Just over one week out from the major event, IHS Markit made the decision to cancel this year’s event. IHS Markit stated:
Over the last few days concern has mounted rapidly about the COVID-19 coronavirus. The World Health Organization raised the threat level on Friday, the U.S. government cancelled a summit meeting scheduled in Las Vegas, an increasing number of companies are instituting travel bans and restrictions, border health checks are becoming more restrictive and there is growing concern about large conferences with people coming from different parts of the world.
Along with IHS Markit, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner wanted to make it clear that as of now there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Houston, and it was nothing specific to Houston that caused the cancellation. IHS Markit also canceled international conferences that were scheduled for New Orleans and Long Beach, California.
Participants will be looking forward to next year’s conference. As of now, it is scheduled for March 1-5, 2021. According to CERAWeek’s website, next year’s conference will provide “an integrated framework for understanding what’s ahead for global energy markets, geopolitics, and technology. Participants include senior executives, government officials, thought leaders, academics, technology innovators and financial leaders.”
See You Next Year
We at SHALE were looking forward to attending this year, but, while disappointed, we understand the great need for caution at this time. We look forward to seeing everyone next year.
