The event, which is a rebranding of the established Excellence in Oil and Gas conference, will start today after a preliminary workshop session today at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth Hotel.

“Obviously the price of oil is really the key issue for most people,” StockAnalysis corporate analyst Peter Strachan told ILN sister publication EnergyNewsPremium yesterday, after West Texas Intermediate crude charted a 4.7% overnight drop in value to $US44.84 a barrel.

“For a lot of companies, the key issue will be their survival in a market which is very reticent to fund new projects or to fund on-going exploration.

“I think the conference will be really poorly attended and the mood will be quite sombre.”

Strachan will serve as moderator for a panel discussion on recent plays in the Cooper-Eromanga Basin and will argue that the US gas revolution is a bursting bubble in a one-on-one debate with Texas LNG chief executive Vivek Chandra.

“I think there’ll be a lot of focus on the Gladstone projects,” Strachan said.

“People will be wondering if these projects will actually make any money. These projects are only just starting to commission, so we really have to say – when all the projects are up and running in 25 months time – what’s the price of LNG going to be?”

Strachan also expects a good deal of delegate interest in Carnarvon Petroleum-Apache Energy joint venture activity in Western Australia’s Bedout sub-Basin, as well as in progress at AWE’s conventional gas projects in the Perth Basin.

Metgasco’s announcement yesterday to terminate its merger with Elk Petroleum is also likely to be a conference talking point as speculation builds about an increase in corporate activity and companies leaving the sector.

Keynote presentations at Energy, Oil & Gas will otherwise focus largely on the outlook for Asian demand, Australian international competitiveness and identifying opportunities in the decidedly turbulent sector.