March 23 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi state oil giant ADNOC's

Group CEO Sultan Al Jaber will not travel to Houston for the

CERAWeek energy conference and will participate virtually before

travelling to Washington D.C. for meetings, an ADNOC

spokesperson told Reuters, as the Iran war upends energy

markets.

The gathering, which draws some of the oil and gas

industry's top executives and officials, opens on Monday, at a

time when global oil prices are soaring due to Iran's effective

closure of the Strait of Hormuz as well as attacks on

infrastructure, leaving governments scrambling to fight

​inflation and avoid recessions.

CERAWeek, organised by S&P Global, will be without the

physical presence of top Gulf executives this year. Saudi Aramco

CEO Amin Nasser has cancelled his planned appearance because of

the war and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's CEO will address the

gathering from Kuwait on Tuesday.

Al Jaber's "participation reflects the importance he places

on direct engagement with the global energy community at a

critical moment for energy security", the spokesperson said.

Separately, he will travel to Washington on a 48-hour trip

to hold a series of senior-level bilateral meetings and attend

an event hosted by the Middle East Institute, the spokesperson

said.

Al Jaber is expected to address CERAWeek on Monday and his

trip to Washington is expected in the middle of this week.

His meetings there "will focus on the Hormuz situation,

global energy supply continuity, and the UAE-U.S. strategic

partnership," the spokesperson said.