Remarks As Prepared for Deputy Secretary Sell
Thank you Excellencies, fellow Ministers, and distinguished ladies and gentlemen. And thank you, President Adamkus and President Kaczynski, for hosting this important international discussion on the energy challenges and opportunities we collectively face.
I am recognized to represent the President of the U.S. and to personally deliver his commitment to expand our collaboration to achieve a more secure energy future for all of our nations.
When Vice President Cheney was here in May of 2006, he made clear that in today's world our values and our strategic interests are one and the same. This is as true for our belief in democracy as it is for our pursuit of energy security.
We are facing a new energy reality which compels cooperation among neighbors, new options for suppliers and consumers, and transparent engagement in the global marketplace.
That is why I was so pleased to participate in yesterday's Tenth Anniversary of the GUAM organization. Regional partnerships like GUAM provide the backbone and the unity necessary for like-minded and interdependent nations to jointly pursue mutually beneficial policies that increase economic prosperity, regional stability, and enhanced energy security.
And in my view, enhanced energy security cannot appropriately be discussed without a recognition of the new energy reality that we are all facing - a reality that poses challenges requiring new solutions and vigorous engagement with new regional and international partners.
The facts are simple, we are in a high priced environment, where world-wide demand has outstripped supply. Over the next 25 years, we estimate that this robust global energy consumption will increase by an additional 50 percent.
Also, world conditions are changing. The energy infrastructure of today is more extensive and expansive than ever and as such, it is more vulnerable to terrorism and disruption. Further, opportunities for exploration and production are limited by an increasing trend toward resource nationalism.
Consider this, 2 thirds of the world's oil and gas reserves are in countries that substantially limit or prohibit any foreign companies from investing there.
We know that the world is not running out of energy resources, but above ground risks like resource nationalism, limited access and infrastructure constraints may effectively limit production to something far less than what is required. We have seen conditions like this before but now we must consider them in the context of tackling the issue of global climate change and the future reality of a carbon constrained environment.
That makes this a very new energy reality now the question is, how do we together address it.
We know that it takes technology. We know that it takes strong economies. We know that it takes investment. And we know that it takes new levels of collaboration.
No single solution, no single supplier, no single technology will answer this call we need to invest in all potential economic options.
That is why I am pleased that so many of the nations represented here today have joined together with the U.S. in the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), which aims to increase the availability of environmentally sound nuclear power.
Coupled with last year's arrangement among Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland to pursue the development of a new nuclear facility in Lithuania, this regional support of nuclear power is a positive step toward enhanced cooperation. The U.S. supports Poland and Lithuania resolving remaining differences and moving forward with this important project.
Another step in addressing the challenges presented by the new energy reality is the importance of ensuring fair access to affordable, reliable, and diverse supplies of energy. Transportation and distribution options, such as the Nabucco and Odessa-Brody pipelines, are critical to the access equation. Competition in this area provides incentives for efficiency, is good for consumers, and enhances energy security.
But security and stability require cooperation and transparency. That is why America's aim for European and Central Asian energy development has long been to ensure reliable, unfettered flows of oil and natural gas from the Caspian region to the global marketplace, and from multiple economic transit routes not only through Russia.
In the absence of diverse supplies with multiple transit options, nations are vulnerable to the whims and dictates of their overdependence on one supplier.
Producing nations have legitimate interests in security of their markets. But those same nations who choose to use their natural resources for short term political and economic gain, are doing so to the long term detriment of their people and the overall world energy system. That approach may hold short term appeal, but it is ultimately economically unsustainable.
As we learned in the U.S. it is imperative that a country or a region not be dependent on a single supplier. A diversity of fuels from multiple sources is vitally important in addressing this new energy reality.
Energy security cannot occur with the European and Caspian nations each pursuing separate paths and separate arrangements. Solidarity is paramount. Energy security can only occur in the context of a shared vision, regional cooperation, common interests, and more importantly common actions.
Building a more secure energy future for all the nations represented here today is important for the U.S. and the rest of the world. And I want you to know that we will support you in that endeavor.
Finally, the advantages of competition, fair pricing, and multiple supply options to transport that energy cannot be overstated.
Future energy development requires new technology, huge sums of capital perhaps $20 trillion over the next 25 years, and the experience and best practices of the world's leading energy companies. In order to be successful, all nations must embrace a transparent marketplace, a responsible investment climate, and fair and predictable regulatory regimes.
The U.S. will continue its strong partnership with European and Central Asian nations. I am here because the President of the U.S. supports your vision of a democratic, prosperous, and stable region.
Participation in the global energy market requires responsible options among responsible partners. The U.S. government and U.S. commercial industry will assist you in achieving these goals.
Thank you.
