Intl energy conference cancelled after WHO COVID-19 advisory

Houston: The international CERAWeek 2020 energy conference has been cancelled after careful consideration of a coronavirus advisory issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), said a joint statement issued in the Texas capital of Houston.

Sunday's statement, jointly issued by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and IHS Markit Vice Chairman and CERAWeek Chair Daniel Yergin, said the decision was made after the advisory mentioned "a growing concern about large conferences with people coming from different parts of the world and the restriction of travel by a growing number of companies", reports Xinhua news agency.

"Nothing specific to Houston led to this decision," it said.

"The focus of concern was the number of delegates coming to Houston from more than 80 other countries at this particular time of uncertainty," said the statement.

For the same reason, IHS Markit has also cancelled two other international conferences this month scheduled in the United States.

The decision of the cancellation "was precautionary to help prevent further spread of COVID-19 in the US", said the statement.

The CERAWeek 2020 was originally scheduled to run between March 9 and March 13 in Houston, which has hosted the conference for more than 35 years.

An annual energy conference held in March, is usually attended by around 5,000 people across the world.