Big events are taking place this week in Doha as the State of Qatar hosts the 2011 World Petroleum Congress (WPC). The WPC is a triennial meeting that brings together the world’s oil and gas leaders along with governments, NGOs, and international institutions to discuss the direction of the industry and its role in fostering global economic growth.

This 20th gathering of the WPC marks the first time the event has been held in the Middle East. Previous Congresses have been held in Moscow, Houston, and Rio de Janeiro, among other locations. The selection of Qatar was a recognition by WPC leadership of the growing importance in the international energy economy of Qatar, which recently established itself as the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.

As the world’s largest investor-owned energy company, ExxonMobil also plays a significant role every three years at WPC. On Tuesday, ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson delivered keynote remarks on the topic of energy and economic recovery.

I invite you to read his speech for yourself. But I do want to emphasize one important point Rex makes: Namely, that the significant world energy demand growth we project over the next few decades is cause for optimism, not despair.

Too often projections of demand growth prompt concerns from some in government and the media. But they fail to recognize that growing energy demand is a key signal of new economic growth.

We estimate the global economy will more than double in size between 2010 and 2040. That is a good thing for people and countries around the world.

Consequently, we also expect that global energy demand will grow by about 30 percent during this period. At ExxonMobil, we don’t view rising demand as a problem but rather a challenge – one that the oil and gas industry has met consistently for more than a century. As Rex said, industry and government can work together to meet future demand through efforts to “establish sound energy policies and enable international partners to work, invest, and innovate together,” much as Qatar has done in recent years.

Of course, the World Petroleum Congress is about a lot more than just speeches. It is the meeting place for the world’s technology leaders. WPC offers an occasion for companies like ours to showcase the technological advancements we pioneer to continue delivering safe, reliable and affordable energy supplies to the world.

During the course of the week, ExxonMobil experts are presenting on a range of topics demonstrating our commitment to advancing technology to find energy solutions – everything from leveraging technical and operational efficiencies in unconventional oil and gas production to investigating the relationship between oilfield technologies and medical science.

After all, using directional drilling to pinpoint a pocket of natural gas isn’t all that different from some of the technology you might find in the hospital. As energy analyst Mark Mills recently wrote in Forbes, “The technology [of hydraulic fracturing] is a kissin’ cousin to what doctors use, on a much smaller scale, for things like laparoscopic surgery.”

We are proud of the industry’s innovative spirit and technological leadership, as well as our own contributions in this field. In fact, ExxonMobil received the prestigious WPC Excellence Award in Technological Development for our patented Remote Reservoir Resistivity Mapping (R3M), developed by our Upstream Research Company.

Unlike seismic detection technology that uses sound waves, R3M technology uses electromagnetic energy to help detect oil and gas accumulations under thousands of feet of water and rock. That means that R3M may possibly improve success rates of offshore exploration activities in deep water, where a single wildcat well can cost more than $100 million.

WPC also offers an opportunity to recognize the important role that our industry plays in strengthening the communities where we live and work around the world. We were honored to receive the Excellence Award for Social Responsibility for our role in the Nightwatch campaign to increase bed net use in Africa.

With partners Malaria No More and the Lalela Project, ExxonMobil has helped enlist some of the best-known musicians, artists, community leaders, and athletes throughout the African continent to spread the word about bed net use in communities ravaged by mosquito-borne malaria.

While we celebrate these accomplishments, we realize there’s still work to be done when it comes to developing global energy supplies and supporting the communities where that work takes place.

The WPC offers the unique opportunity to meet with partners, competitors, government leaders, and other stakeholders to make sure we are working together to advance these goals.

Equally important is the WPC’s role in shining a light on global energy issues, challenges and solutions. It’s going to take all of us – energy companies, governments and citizens alike – working together to meet the energy needs of the global economy of the future.