Editor’s Note (March 2026): This guide has been substantially updated to reflect the full March 2026 events calendar, including CERAWeek by S&P Global, StocExpo Rotterdam, SAOGC Cape Town, GPA Midstream Convention, and additional industry gatherings not covered in the original version.
March concentrates more high-impact march oil gas energy events than any other month in the annual calendar. CERAWeek by S&P Global draws the global energy executive community to Houston. StocExpo brings the tank storage and bulk liquid sector together in Rotterdam. The Southern Africa Oil & Gas Conference opens up the continent’s frontier upstream markets in Cape Town. GPA Midstream and the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference anchor the North American technical programme. Oi London covers subsea and offshore infrastructure. CIPPE in Beijing puts Chinese petroleum procurement on display. Seven major events, four continents, one month.
Why March Defines the Annual Oil and Gas Events Calendar
No other month matches March for breadth or strategic weight. The year’s most influential C-suite gathering (CERAWeek), the tank storage sector’s dedicated global show (StocExpo), the continent-opening African upstream forum (SAOGC), the midstream processing industry’s annual assembly (GPA Midstream), and the subsea sector’s biennial showcase (Oi London) all fall within the same four-week window. For professionals tracking the full value chain — from upstream drilling through midstream processing to terminal storage — March is the month to be in the room.
The February events guide covers the lead-in month. March builds on those foundations with events that set the commercial and geopolitical tone for the rest of the year.
CERAWeek by S&P Global — The World’s Premier Energy Conference
CERAWeek by S&P Global is the year’s most closely watched march oil gas energy event for senior industry leadership. Held annually at the Hilton Americas–Houston, the conference enters its 44th edition in 2026 under the theme “Convergence and Competition: Energy, Technology and Geopolitics.” Conference Chair Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global, convenes the gathering across 23–27 March.
The 2026 speaker roster includes Amin H. Nasser, President & CEO of Saudi Aramco; Wael Sawan, CEO of Shell; Linda Z. Cook, CEO of Harbour Energy; Ruth Porat, SVP and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet; the Hon. Chris Wright, US Secretary of Energy; and the Hon. Doug Burgum, US Secretary of the Interior and Chairman of the National Energy Dominance Council. Premier Danielle Smith of Alberta and Nobel Laureate Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela are also confirmed.
Sixteen conference themes cover the full energy value chain: Oil Value Chain, LNG, Chemicals and Materials, Managing Emissions, Finance and Investment, AI and Technology, Geopolitics, Power and Grids, Hydrogen, and Nuclear among them. For terminal and storage professionals, the Chemicals and Materials track covers chemical storage demand; the Managing Emissions sessions address terminal decarbonisation; and the Finance and Investment programme covers project debt structures for storage and LNG assets.
A dedicated reception on 24 March — “Celebrating 10 Years of US LNG” — features US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Cheniere Energy CEO Jack Fusso. The broader LNG programme runs against a sharp geopolitical backdrop: CERAWeek 2026 opens days after Iranian missile strikes on Ras Laffan Industrial City knocked out an estimated 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity and triggered force majeure declarations. Energy security and supply disruption will dominate the geopolitics and LNG sessions. For context on what those strikes mean for global storage infrastructure, see 2026 LNG Storage Tsunami: How Infrastructure is Racing to Keep Up.
The Innovation Agora runs alongside the Executive Conference, featuring three hub zones (New Energies, Carbon & Climate, AI), startup presentation pods, and a new 2026 feature: the “Look Forward” session on Friday 27 March covering economics, politics, and technology. The conference website is ceraweek.com.
StocExpo Rotterdam — Tank Storage’s Annual Global Gathering
StocExpo is the one dedicated global show for tank storage and bulk liquid infrastructure, and the most directly relevant of all march oil gas energy events for terminal operators, EPC contractors, inspection companies, and equipment suppliers. Organised by Easyfairs — the same group behind Tank Storage Magazine — the 2026 edition runs 10–11 March at Rotterdam Ahoy across three conference stages.
The 2026 programme covers future fuels including ammonia and hydrogen storage, digital twins, automated terminal operations, sustainable energy solutions, tank maintenance innovation, and digitalisation of terminal management systems. Rotterdam’s position as Europe’s largest tank storage hub gives the event an immediate operational context: announcements made at StocExpo frequently reflect decisions already in motion at the terminals visible from the conference centre windows.
For a full account of what emerged at StocExpo 2026, see the StocExpo 2026 Rotterdam: Recap & Key Industry Takeaways.
SAOGC Cape Town — Southern Africa’s Upstream and LNG Platform
The Southern Africa Oil & Gas Conference (SAOGC), held 16–17 March at Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town, enters its 5th annual edition in 2026 under the theme “Oil & Gas without Borders: Unlocking Southern Africa’s Shared Future.” It is organised by the South African Oil & Gas Alliance (SAOGA) in partnership with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources and Petroleum Agency of South Africa.
The region’s upstream fundamentals justify the growing profile of this event. Mozambique’s LNG projects are positioning the country as a significant export market. Namibia’s Orange Basin offshore oil discoveries have changed assessments of Sub-Saharan Atlantic potential. South Africa’s offshore gas resource is estimated at 60 trillion cubic feet. Namibia’s green hydrogen ambitions add an energy transition dimension to what is otherwise a conventional upstream agenda. Upstream investment decisions made at SAOGC feed directly into future midstream and terminal storage demand across the southern African region.
North American Technical Events — GPA Midstream and SPE/IADC Drilling
The GPA Midstream Convention, organised annually by the GPA Midstream Association in San Antonio, Texas, is the primary technical gathering for the natural gas midstream processing industry. Gas processing volumes, NGL fractionation rates, and treating and conditioning technology are the core agenda items. For storage terminal professionals, the intelligence value lies in what the midstream community signals about processing capacity and NGL market direction — both of which affect terminal throughput specifications and product mix.
The IADC/SPE International Drilling Conference and Exhibition runs 17–19 March at the Galveston Island Convention Center in Galveston, Texas. Organised jointly by the International Association of Drilling Contractors and the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the event covers drilling technology, well control, subsea systems, directional drilling, and automation. Upstream drilling activity is the primary long-cycle driver of new gathering, processing, and storage demand — new well counts and completion technologies at the Permian Basin and Gulf Coast directly signal future terminal throughput requirements.
CIPPE Beijing and Oi London — Asian Procurement and Subsea Infrastructure
CIPPE — the China International Petroleum & Petrochemical Technology and Equipment Exhibition — is one of the largest petroleum trade shows in Asia. Organised by CNPC and the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, the 2026 edition runs 25–27 March at the New China International Exhibition Center in Beijing. China is the world’s largest LNG importer and a major storage market; CIPPE gives visibility into Chinese storage tank manufacturers, EPC contractors, and terminal procurement cycles that are otherwise difficult to track from outside the market.
Oceanology International (Oi London) takes place 10–12 March at ExCeL London, drawing 8,000-plus professionals across subsea technology, marine science, and ocean technology. Organised on a biennial schedule by Spearhead International, Oi London is relevant to operators with offshore pipeline, subsea storage, or marine LNG terminal assets — particularly those tracking inspection technology and offshore digital monitoring developments.
Additional March Events to Watch
The International Petrochemical Conference (IPC), organised by AFPM (American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers), runs 29–30 March at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio, Texas. The annual executive forum for refining and petrochemical leadership has direct relevance for chemical storage terminal operators and refined product storage businesses tracking feedstock and product market direction.
CCUS 2026, organised by S&P Global, is held in The Woodlands, Texas from 30 March into early April. The global CCUS community gathering is relevant for terminal operators and EPC contractors evaluating CO₂ storage tie-ins and working through CCUS project pipeline development.
March delivers the full spectrum of the annual march oil gas energy events calendar — from the Houston boardroom strategy of CERAWeek to the Rotterdam tank farm operations of StocExpo, the Cape Town frontier markets of SAOGC, and the Asian procurement cycles on show at CIPPE. The next major gatherings in the calendar are NISTM 2026 for aboveground storage tank professionals and ILTA Houston 2026 for the liquid terminal industry.
What are the major oil and gas energy events in March each year?
The major march oil gas energy events include CERAWeek by S&P Global (Houston, late March), StocExpo (Rotterdam, early March), the Southern Africa Oil & Gas Conference (Cape Town, mid-March), GPA Midstream Convention (San Antonio, March), the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference (Galveston, mid-March), CIPPE (Beijing, late March), and Oceanology International (London, biennial, early March). March is the most geographically and thematically concentrated month in the annual energy events calendar.
What is CERAWeek and when does it take place?
CERAWeek is the annual energy executive conference organised by S&P Global, chaired by Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin. It takes place each March at the Hilton Americas–Houston in Houston, Texas, typically over five days in the final week of the month. The conference covers the full energy value chain across 16 themed tracks including LNG, oil, chemicals, hydrogen, nuclear, geopolitics, and AI.
What is StocExpo and who organises it?
StocExpo is the global annual exhibition and conference for the tank storage and bulk liquid infrastructure sector. It is organised by Easyfairs — the same group behind Tank Storage Magazine — and held at Rotterdam Ahoy in the Netherlands, typically in early March. The event covers terminal operations, future fuels, digital twins, tank maintenance, and automated terminal systems. It is the only dedicated global gathering for tank terminal operators and their supply chain.
Are there any oil and gas storage events specifically in March?
StocExpo Rotterdam is the primary oil and gas storage event in March and the most directly relevant gathering of the year for terminal operators, EPC contractors, inspection companies, and equipment suppliers. CERAWeek also covers storage-related topics through its Oil Value Chain, LNG, and Chemicals and Materials conference tracks. NISTM, the major aboveground storage tank conference, typically falls in April and May across multiple US locations.
What African oil and gas events take place in March?
The Southern Africa Oil & Gas Conference (SAOGC) is the principal African oil and gas event in March. Organised by SAOGA and held in Cape Town, South Africa, it covers upstream exploration, offshore development, and LNG infrastructure across the southern African region — including Mozambique LNG, Namibia Orange Basin discoveries, and South Africa offshore gas. The conference typically runs for two days in mid-March.