"Russia is a member country, it has been for many years, and we hope to have many Russian delegates there," Riemer said on Thursday.
Riemer noted that in October the WPC president met again with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak to invite him to come to the congress.
"That invitation is still there, and hopefully all the political issues will be resolved by the time we come to Istanbul next year, and everybody will be happy in attendance," he said.
The upcoming petroleum congress is scheduled to take place amid the strained relations between Moscow and Ankara.
"In the industry we are working everything we do involves geopolitics, so you never know what politicians are going to do. We are scientists, we are engineers and so we get all the things around what the politicians do," Riemer said.
The triennial 22nd World Petroleum Congress will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 9-13, 2017. Some 20,000 participants, 5,000 decision-makers, as well as 50 ministers from over 100 countries will gather to discuss global gas and oil issues. The 21st Congress took place in Moscow, Russia, in 2014.
The congress is conducted by the WPC, which is a non-advocacy, non-political organization with charitable status in the UK and has accreditation as a NGO from the UN.
