Aberdeen’s Lord Provost is travelling to Houston this week to speak at a leading energy conference.
Councillor Barney Crockett will join a host of executives for Cera Week, highlighting the Granite City’s oil and gas heritage along with its growing renewables industry.
He is attending at the invitation of Houston mayor Sylvester Turner, an honour previously accepted by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Councillor Crockett said: “The great thing is how closely we’re aligning with cities like Houston, cities on a massive scale
“It’s at the personal invitation of the mayor and he indicates in the letter that people who have accepted in the past include George W. Bush, Obama, Bill Gates and a whole list of other luminaries. So it is a big credit to the city and a huge privilege for me.”
On Wednesday Mr Crockett will speak at an event on hydrogen transportation, also attended by energy giant Saudi Aramco.
He will also be part of a panel session on “smart cities” with the mayors of Halifax, Houston and Stavanger.
Colette Cohen, chief executive of the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) has also been asked to speak on the previous day about the value of data in the energy sector.
It comes as Aberdeen prepares for a host of major oil and gas events this year, including the annual general meeting of the World Energy Cities Partnership in September and Offshore Europe.
Councillor Crockett added: “We’re playing a leadership role in the World Energy Cities Partnership and that partnership is going to extend further and embrace more of the world’s leading cities.
“I think that the internationalisation of the city is shown by the scale of the conferences that are coming here.”