The Challenges of a Changing International Energy Market

Vienna, 8 November 2007

With oil at close to $100/bbl, there is a greater need than ever for international dialogue on the challenges of a changing international market, and this was the topic for a Conference organised on 8 November 2007 in Vienna by the Energy Charter Secretariat, in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The Conference was opened by Martin Bartenstein, Austrian Federal Minister for Economics and Labour, by André Mernier, Secretary General of the Energy Charter, and by Didier Houssin, Director for Oil Markets and Emergency Preparedness at the IEA.

Setting the scene for the debate were Abdalla Salem El-Badri, the Secretary General of OPEC, and Didier Houssin, who presented the 2007 World Energy Outlook, the IEA’s flagship annual review of the global energy economy that was officially released on 7 November.

The Conference brought together a broad spectrum of policymakers from all along the energy value chain, representing resource-owning countries and consumers as well as industry, academia and other stakeholders. Among the high-level speakers were Andrei Denisov, First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, and Jozias van Aartsen, former Dutch Foreign Minister and the EU’s Special Coordinator for the Caspian Sea-Middle East-European Union Gas Route.

The Conference examined the ways in which international energy markets are changing, against a background of high and volatile energy prices, uncertainty over how and how fast it will be possible to move towards a low-carbon and more energy efficient future, and fears that the speed of resource development and investment may not be sufficient to meet future demand at affordable price.

Speakers considered the implications of these changes for the three strands of the energy policy debate: the efficient operation of energy markets, security and diversity of energy supply / demand, and climate change and the environmental impact of energy use. In addition, participants from industry, including senior participants from OMV, KazMunaiGaz, Chevron and Edison considered how business strategies are coping with evolving patterns of risk.

The overall aim of the Conference was to identify instruments and policies that can help to ensure sustainable and reliable energy services for the future, and to consider how policy frameworks – both at national, regional and international levels – can be developed to provide reliable guidance for long-term decisions on resource depletion, investment and market design.

Selected speeches and presentations made at the Conference will be available shortly at the relevant links below:

Welcome and Opening Statements

Martin Bartenstein, Federal Minister of Economics and Labour, Austria

André Mernier, Secretary General, Energy Charter Secretariat

Didier Houssin, Director, Oil Markets and Emergency Preparedness, International Energy Agency
 

The Challenges of a Changing International Energy Market

Abdalla Salem El-Badri, Secretary General, OPEC

Didier Houssin, Director, Oil Markets and Emergency Preparedness, International Energy Agency
  

Energy and Economic Security
Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Secretary General, OSCE
  

Session One: States and Markets: Policy Choices along the Energy Value Chain

Chairman: George Verberg, President, Energy Delta Institute, former IGU President

Russia and Global Energy Security
Andrei Denisov, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation

States and Markets in the Energy Sector
Dieter Helm, Professor of Energy Policy, University of Oxford

The Role of Governments in Diversifying Energy Supply Routes
Jozias van Aartsen, European Union Special Coordinator for the Caspian Sea-Middle East-EU Gas Route

EU Energy and Climate Change Policy – Goldmine or Minefield?
Klaus Gretschmann, Director General responsible for energy, EU Council Secretariat

  
Lunch address by Helga Steeg, former Executive Director of the IEA and former Chair of the Energy Charter's Transit Working Group
  

Session Two: Long-Term Investment Decisions and Policy Uncertainty: How to Manage Risk?

Chairman: Takekazu Kawamura, Ambassador of Japan to the EU, Chairman of the Energy Charter Conference

OMV between East and West, between Long-Term Contracts and Liquid Markets
Gottfried Steiner, Head of International Affairs, OMV Gas International, Austria

Hydrocarbons Transportation in Kazakhstan: Present and Future
Klara Rakhmetova, Department Director for Oil Transportation Development, KazMunaiGaz, Kazakhstan

Caspian Investment, Transportation and Risk Mitigation
Jan Kalicki, Counsellor for International Strategy, Chevron Corporation, USA; Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars

The Interface between Gas and Electricity Markets
Elio Ruggeri, IGI Project Leader, Edison, Italy
  

Concluding Panel: Instruments and Policies to Support Reliable and Sustainable International Energy Markets

Chairman: Andrei Konoplyanik, Deputy Secretary General, Energy Charter Secretariat

Leonid Grigoriev, President of the Institute of Energy and Finance, Russian Federation

Ralf Dickel, Director for Trade, Transit and Relations with Non-Signatories, Energy Charter Secretariat

Ann Eggington, Head of Division for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Office of Global Energy Dialogue, International Energy Agency

Jonathan Stern, Director of Gas Research, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies