Rex Tillerson to receive award for 'excellence in petroleum industry' during Turkish state visit

The US Secretary of State was formerly the CEO of ExxonMobil

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is set to receive an award from the World Petroleum Congress during his state visit to Turkey (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

The US Secretary of State is to receive an award from the World Petroleum Congress (WPC) during his upcoming state visit to Turkey.

Rex Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil CEO from 2006 to 2016, will be presented with the Dewhurst Award for “scientific and technological excellence in the petroleum industry” at the conference taking place in Istanbul, according to the WPC conference's website.

The award was named after Thomas Dewhurst, a former president of the Institute of Petroleum in the UK. Former recipients include past CEOs of Royal Dutch/Shell, BP, and Chevron.

Other government officials to receive the award include Ali Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Petroleum, and Abdulla Bin Hamad Al Attiyah, former Deputy Prime Minister of Energy of Qatar.

The State Department and WPC have not yet responded to questions about when Mr Tillerson was notified of the award.

There was also no word on why Mr Tillerson did not decline the award that is for his private sector service while he currently serves as the top US diplomat. He worked for the company for nearly 40 years and accumulated millions of shares in that time which have paid him close to $90m (£69.6m) in the last three years alone, according to Forbes.

A senior Department official commented that “this is a good opportunity to reach Turkish counterparts and other countries will be there as well”. However there is no indication the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will be in attendance.

The official also said that Mr Tillerson’s visit to Turkey would partly be about how “energy security is a regional priority” for the US.

Some of the sponsors of the conference include Turkish Petroleum, Saudi Aramco, Qatar Petroleum, and Sinopec of China to name a few.

Despite his background and the forthcoming award, Mr Tillerson reportedly told Donald Trump the US should stay in the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Mr Trump last month announced the US would withdraw from the accord, which has been signed by 200 countries in an effort to combat global warming and help poorer countries adapt to the already changed planet.

The President said the deal put American workers at an “economic disadvantage,” particularly those in the coal and natural gas sectors.

The move is in line with the Trump administration’s proposed deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, told The Independent that “the Trump government is all about fracking. The oil and gas lobby has been given a free run.”

Mr Tillerson’s former employer ExxonMobil certainly benefits from the administration's policies, said Mr Sachs.

He called the policies and Mr Tillerson’s acceptance of the award “rather dreadful from the point of view of planetary realities”.

However, Guy Caruso, Senior Adviser with the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was "appropriate" for Mr Tillerson to accept the award.

The Secretary of State was a board member of the Washington, DC think tank and Mr Caruso has known him since the late 1990s.

The award is "pretty prestigious" and akin to an honorary doctoral degree, according to Mr Caruso who has planned conferences such as the WPC's.

As far as what Mr Tillerson will speak about - energy security - that may be a more murky point.

Mr Caruso noted that what constitutes energy security is still "waiting to be fleshed out" in the Trump administration. He explained that Mr Tillerson will likely push a message of harmony among oil-producing nations, particularly between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Last month, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Yemen, UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar over the small monarchy’s alleged financial ties to terrorist groups.

Saudi Arabia has issued "demands" to Qatar in order to restore ties and trade. Mr Tillerson has been calling for a quick and diplomatic resolution to the row to no avail.

Mr Tillerson will likely want to "continue to move that smooth flow of oil from that region. Even with that success the US has had domestically, that region is important to us," said Mr Caruso.

The message heard from Mr Trump and Energy Secretary Rex Tillerson is more about "energy dominance" and focused on domestic production, he explained.

But, the Secretary of State is "probably going to give a more sophisticated approach to it...more inclusive, more diplomatic," said Mr Caruso. The big concern for the administration is making sure it looks as if Mr Tillerson is "on the same page" in Turkey.

The Secretary of State will arrive in Turkey on 9 July after a visit to Ukraine.