An international conference on world energy issues kicked off here Monday to discuss the drivers of change in the energy sector for the year ahead.

Under the theme "Drivers of Change: Geopolitics, Markets and the New Map of Energy," CERAWeek offers new insight on the future of energy, and on the strategic and investment responses by producers, consumers and policy makers, through speakers, discussions and highlighting innovation pioneers.

"The energy industry is undergoing a profound transformation driven by new technologies, shifts in global demand, regulatory uncertainties, and the new realities and cost structure of supply, " organizers of the conference said on the CERAWeek website.

Meanwhile, growing economic uncertainty, particularly in Europe and emerging Asia - along with geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America - all pose new risks and challenges as companies invest to meet future energy needs, the website said.

More than 2,200 participants from more than 50 countries convene in Houston for the 32nd IHS CERAWeek energy conference, which will run through Friday.

The conference will cover big themes - oil, natural gas, electric power - and the role that innovation will play in these fields.

Compared with the CERAWeek conferences in the past years, which largely centered around shale oil, this year's conference focuses more on the development of tight oil, said Xizhou Zhou, director of China Energy, IHS.

In its latest energy outlook, British oil giant BP predicted that the shale revolution that had transformed the US energy market would spread to other parts of the world, with global output of shale gas trebling and tight oil growing more than six-fold by 2030.

The fast development of tight oil in North America in the past one or two years has been a surprise to many people, Zhou told Xinhua. "People at this conference are talking about the possibility of that kind of fast development happening in other parts of the world."

Shale gas and tight oil boom has greatly reduced US dependence on imported oil. The declining costs of producing shale gas and tight oil locally make people think of the possibility of a manufacturing renaissance in North America, Zhou said.

Fifty to sixty delegates, representing a record 10 Chinese enterprises, attended this year's conference, indicating the increasing interest of Chinese energy companies in "going overseas," said Zhou.

CERAWeek is held annually by IHS, a US energy consulting firm, and provides a platform for industry leaders, regulators and scholars around the world to engage in in-depth discussions.