Several cutting-edge new speakers have joined a powerful line-up for IPI’s international “Oil, Gas & Media” conference, to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from Sep. 17-19.

The high-profile gathering will bring together leading energy reporters, business and financial journalists, and major players in the oil and gas industry,  to explore how public opinion, freedom of information and media relations all intersect with the oil and gas industries.

The event has already drawn top speakers and panelists from around the world.

Newly-confirmed speakers include:

Jürgen Roth: One of Germany’s most prominent investigative journalists, Roth will take part in the panel session titled “Rig over Troubled Waters? – Oil & Press Freedom”.

Roth has produced a number of books and television documentaries on organised crime in Germany and Eastern Europe. His most recent book, “Gazprom – Das unheimliche Imperium”, was released in April 2012.

Godber Tumushabe: The founding executive director of the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), an independent public policy research and advocacy think tank based in Kampala, Uganda, Tumushabe will participate in the session, “Chasing the Story: What the Government Should Tell You”.

Through advocacy and capacity building, ACODE seeks to “motivate people to demand responsible government, accountability in leadership, justice and better governance.”

Johnny West: The founder of the OpenOil energy consultancy and publishing house, West will take part in the session titled “My Nation is Oil Rich, So Why Am I So Poor?” OpenOil “seeks market-driven solutions which produce better outcomes from the oil and gas industry for the people of producing nations”. A social entrepreneur and writer with 20 years’ professional experience in the oil industry, West began covering energy markets as a Reuters correspondent in the Middle East in the early 1990s.