Wednesday, August 17, 2005

 

Energy Security - assistance from Russia

It is excellent that Russia is focusing on energy security in its presidency of the G8 in 2006 (see below). We need movement on the Energy Charter Treaty.

The Russian Federation is a member of the Energy Charter Conference, but has yet to sign the Treaty. The sticking point is the transit protocol, which aims "to develop a regime of commonly-accepted legal principles covering transit flows of energy resources, both hydrocarbons and electricity, crossing at least two national boundaries, designed to ensure the security and non-interruption of transit."

The hold-up is mentioned in Charter News, which records remarks made by the S-G of the Energy Charter Secretariat at a conference last October:

>Dr Ria Kemper, noted that huge investments are needed in order for Eurasia to meet its projected energy needs, and emphasised that a reliable framework for energy transit is essential if these investments are to be realised. "The aim of the Energy Charter process is to provide a foundation of common rules, facilitating investment in those projects offering the most advantageous combination of high economic efficiency and low environmental impact. A completed Transit Protocol would provide a strong additional impetus to these investments by clarifying – on a multilateral basis – how energy resources can be brought across different national borders and jurisdictions to consumer markets. I strongly hope that the remaining issues in the text of the Protocol – all of which are the subject of continuing consultations between the European Union and
the Russian Federation – can be resolved as soon as possible."<
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