Policy, partnerships to be topics at energy summit

Policy, partnerships to be topics at energy summit
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BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News Staff

U.S. Secretary
of Commerce Don Evans and Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
will discuss energy policy with Russian energy and commerce
officials at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public
Policy next month.

The Baker Institute
is co-hosting part of the United States/Russia Commercial
Energy Summit in Houston Oct. 1-2, along with the secretaries
of commerce and energy and the United States Energy Association.

In addition to
energy policy, the summit will provide a forum for open
dialogue about the role of potential partnerships for international
energy development and its economic impact. Senior executives
from U.S. and Russian energy companies are expected to attend,
as are government officials from the energy and commerce
departments from the two countries.

This gathering
at Rice University and Houston’s Warwick Hotel resulted
from a meeting last May in Russia, where President George
W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a
new energy dialogue between their countries.

“The summit
will provide a venue to advance policies that will embrace
cooperation and success in the U.S. and Russian commercial
energy relationship,” said Amy Jaffe, senior energy
adviser at the Baker Institute, who helped organize the
meeting. “It will also provide opportunities for leaders
of the U.S. and Russian energy industry to explore potential
partnerships.”

Among the topics
on the agenda are Russian resource development potential,
Russian oil and gas investment framework, U.S. government-financed
assistance, investment opportunities in the U.S. and other
countries, commercial financing options, trade in services
and equipment, the role of small and medium-size businesses
in the Russian energy sector, resources for education and
training, and advanced oil and gas technology.

Scheduled to
present keynote addresses are Evans, Abraham, Russian Minister
of Economic Development and Trade German Gref, Russian Minister
of Energy Igor Yusufov and former U.S. Secretary of State
James A. Baker III, honorary chair of the Baker Institute.

The U.S./Russia
Commercial Energy Summit is not open to the general public.