RIYADH (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2020) CERAWeek 2020, which bills itself as the world's premier energy conference, will not take place in the US city of Houston this month due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.
"We want to let you know that, in light of developing circumstances, we are cancelling CERAWeek 2020 scheduled to take place in Houston, March 9-13," the organizers said in a statement on Sunday.
The United States reported its first virus-related death in the northwestern state of Washington on Saturday.
The US government has restricted entry to people who have been in places identified as virus hotbeds. An ASEAN summit scheduled in Las Vegas has been called off.
With travel restrictions becoming harsher, concerns were growing about whether delegates from 80 countries would be able to come to Houston for this year's edition of CERAWeek.
"We have spent the last several weeks focused on this question... But the spread of COVID-19 is moving quickly around the world. We want to get this message to you as soon as possible," the statement read.
The decision to cancel the event was made "reluctantly and after deep consideration," organizers added. The next opportunity to hold the conference will be in Houston from March 1-5, 2021.
