Exclusive Report - Sources say ExxonMobil and Chevron have canceled executives' trips to the UAE for ADIPEC

Paragraphs 4 and 5 add DMG’s statement

Reuters, October 29 - Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that US oil companies ExxonMobil (XOM.N) and Chevron (CVX.N) have canceled plans for their executives to travel to the United Arab Emirates next week for the country’s largest oil exhibition, citing security concerns.

According to sources, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods was scheduled to attend the meeting in Abu Dhabi, known as ADIPEC, while Chevron was to be represented by its President of Upstream Operations, Clay Neff.

ExxonMobil and Chevron both declined to comment. UAE state-owned energy company ADNOC said any remarks should be made by event organizer DMG.

In a statement, DMG said: “There is a strong US presence this year, with more than 120 companies exhibiting, making the US the second-largest participating country after China.” DMG stated, “This year’s ADIPEC will be the largest ever, with representatives from over 170 countries expected to attend.

Neither ExxonMobil nor Chevron appeared on the list of confirmed US industry speakers for ADIPEC provided by DMG.

Recently, the oil market has been under pressure due to concerns that the US may launch another strike against Iran and that Tehran could retaliate. US President Donald Trump had stated that there would be no attack on Iran before the US midterm elections on November 3 (link), but on Friday he said the US might take other military action against Iran.

The latest meeting may be disrupted

Since May, Iran has not launched targeted attacks against the UAE.

The online agenda for the conference still lists other executives, such as BP (BP.L) CEO Meg O'Neill and Equinor (EQNR.OL) CEO Anders Opedal.

Last week, the US State Department ordered (link) some diplomatic personnel to leave Saudi Arabia, a country that has faced near-daily attacks this month by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants. US officials also told Reuters that they plan to evacuate family members of diplomats from other American missions in the region.

ADIPEC is the latest conference to be affected by the conflict (link). Earlier this month, several energy industry executives (link) were removed from the schedule of the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh. Despite the Houthis claiming a deadly attack on the Saudi capital, the meeting went ahead as planned.

(For the convenience of non-English speakers, Reuters automatically translates its reporting into several other languages. As automated translation may contain errors or lack required context, Reuters does not guarantee the accuracy of the translated text, which is provided solely to assist readers. Reuters is not liable for any damage or loss caused by the use of automated translation.)