The International Gas Union (IGU) has elected Seok-hyo Jang, chief executive and president of Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas), as its next president. He will serve as vice president for three years, beginning June 2015, before taking office in 2018. His selection means Korea will host the World Gas Conference (WGC) in 2021.
Jang, chairman of the Korea Gas Union (KGU), was one of four country candidates campaigning to become IGU president – which confers the right to host the IGU’s conference. Korea will be the third Asian country after Japan and Malaysia to host the conference.
The IGU president usually relinquishes his or her corporate positions to concentrate on the IGU’s promotional activities during the three-year presidential term, which includes hosting the WGC. It is uncertain whether Jang will leave Kogas.
More than 70 of the 142 IGU members met in Berlin yesterday to participate in the IGU presidential election.
Other IGU news
The IGU council chose Spain as the new host country for the IGU Secretariat beginning 1 November 2016, for six years. The Secretariat will be based in Barcelona in the Gas Natural Fenosa offices, with Luis Bertrán Rafecas as the new secretary general.
The current Secretariat is hosted at Statoil offices in Norway. The present IGU Secretary General, Torstein Indrebø, is retiring. Pål Rasmussen, of Norway’s Gassco, was elected to fill the post from December 2014 until October 2016.
The IGU is a non-profit organization for the promotion of gas.
The next WGC will be held 1-5 June 2015 in Paris, under current IGU President Jerome Ferrier, Association Française du Gaz.
Subscribe
