Development, Use of Natural Gas Focus of U.S.-China Oil and Gas Industry Forum

CONTACT

Rice University—Mike Cinelli, (713) 831-4794/e-mail mcinelli@rice.edu

DOE—Tom Welch, (202)
586-5806

DOC—Curt Cultice, (202) 482-3809

DEVELOPMENT, USE OF NATURAL GAS FOCUS

OF U.S.-CHINA
OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY FORUM

The development and use of natural
gas as a clean fuel—including in cars—will be the major focus of the second
annual U.S.-China Oil and Gas Industry Forum set for July 21-22 at Rice’s James
A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Panel discussions among government and industry
representatives from the United States and China will start at 8:30 a.m. on
Wednesday, July 21, in James A. Baker III Hall at Rice. A complete Forum agenda
is provided at the end of this release. A campus map is available by contacting
the Rice Office of Media Relations at (713) 831-4795.

Journalists assigned to cover the Forum will need to secure
press credentials at the media sign-in table at Baker Hall prior to the start of
the program. The media badge must be worn while in Baker Hall.

Senior U.S. representatives to the Forum will include the
Office of the Vice President, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department
of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of State. More than 50 U.S. oil and gas
industry executives are also expected to attend. China’s State Development
Planning Commission will lead China’s delegation along with China’s consul
general.

Approximately 120 government and industry representatives
from both the United States and China participated in the first Forum held last
November in Beijing.

”The Baker Institute is pleased to host this forum,
especially in light of the Institute’s recently published study on ‘China and
Long-Range Asian Energy Security—An Analysis of the Political, Economic and
Technological Factors Shaping Asian Energy Markets,”’ said Edward Djerejian,
director of the Baker Institute. Djerejian will moderate the forum’s first panel
discussion.

”China’s energy sector is one of the key areas in which
dramatic change can be expected in the coming years as China emerges as a global
power in the 21st century,” he added. ”The cooperation between the United States
and China in the energy field will be a key factor in how China meets its energy
and environmental needs. This conference can play an important role in this
overall effort,” he added.

The U.S. government is committed to strengthening bilateral
cooperation with China, and it views the Oil and Gas Industry Forum as an
important vehicle for achieving the energy and environmental goals of both
nations.

###

Forum agenda follows



Agenda-U.S./China
Oil and Gas Industry Forum





July 21-22, 1999

Rice University


James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy

Houston,
Texas







Wednesday, July 21, 1999-AM



8:00-8:30 Continental
Breakfast



8:30-9:30 Welcome, Introductions & Keynotes (including a
review of Key Events since first U.S/.China Oil and Gas Industry
Forum.)



Moderator: Edward Djerejian, director

James A. Baker III
Institute for Public Policy, Rice University



Speakers: Deputy Secretary
General