There are a handful of oil and gas industry conferences (ADIPEC, Gastech, CERAWeek) that are distinguished by their global nature, the topics being discussed, the scale of their trade show floors, and their enduring focus. Gastech is one of the biggest and best of the lot. I first came across Gastech in 2015 when I was living in Australia, and the Gastech conference was then being held in Singapore—unsurprisingly, as Australia was then building out its world-class liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, gas prices were off the charts in Japan (US$18 per gigajoule), and the talk was all about expansion potential. Today $18 seems like a bargain and LNG is back on the table in a big way.

Gastech moves around the world to different locations, but is planned out years in advance. Sometimes the gods place favour on locations by dint of world happenings, and this year’s affair was conveniently located in Milan, Italy, a mere 6 months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Energy security suddenly leapt onto the agenda.

Not everyone has the budgetary wherewithal to travel to distant centers for conferences (I know I don’t) and time zones get in the way of attentiveness. Here’s a snapshot of the key topics discussed at the conference.

Overshadowed by events in Europe, the drive to digitalize the energy industry took a back seat to energy security and energy transition at the conference. Read between the lines, however, and the importance of a robust digital foundation in a rapidly evolving energy landscape has never been greater.