Brussels, 04/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Paris on 2 and 3 May, the energy ministers of the 26 Member States of the International Energy Agency (IEA), 17 of which are members of the EU, committed on Tuesday to promote energy efficiency and investments in the energy sector, in order to ensure their supply against a backdrop of higher oil prices. “It is in our power to ensure sustainable and safe energy for the future, and we will do this by means of the most rigorous actions we have committed to today to reduce or growing dependency on energy imports”, they state in a joint declaration. The IEA ministers, whose member countries are big oil importers and consumers, also undertook to reduce their “economic vulnerability given high and volatile energy prices” and to “reduce the impact on the environment of increasing use of fossil fuels”. A further commitment was made to “create a more stable and transparent framework which will help to ensure sufficient and timely investment”. The ministers agreed that under-investment in the oil sector for twenty years is partly to blame for the strong upward volatility in oil prices. “We are aware that private-sector investors are open to various risks on energy markets in reform and that they will need new mechanisms to manage the risks and mobilise the capital needed”, the declaration adds. According to the IEA's estimations, almost 16,000 billion dollars must be invested in the energy sector between now and 2030 in order to ensure sustainable energy in the future.
On Monday, at an informal meeting of the European ministers of the IEA, held by France on the sidelines of the conference and which was attended by Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, the French industry minister, Patrick Devedjian, proposed a series of “collective actions” to bring oil prices back down to the “normal price” of 35 dollars a barrel (as opposed to over 50 dollars currently) and to react to the negative impact of the increase in fuel prices on growth (according to the IEA, an increase of 10% in oil prices brings about a fall of 0.5% in growth). In an interview with Le Parisien on Sunday, Mr Devedjian floated the idea that European countries, acting in concert, could release several million tonnes of oil onto the market, so that speculators would lose money in the resulting price slump (EUROPE 8940). “That would calm them down”, he warned. On Monday, Mr Devedjian proposed that the level of commercial and strategic stocks of crude and of refined products in the EU be published fortnightly, which would lead to greater transparency. The Presidency, represented by minister for the economy Jeannot Krecké, said that in order to improve the situation on the oil markets, the EU was in the process of implementing measures to bring in market transparency in order to curtail volatility. Mr Devedjian also suggested that a proportion of Community cohesion funds be used to renovate refineries of the new Member States, which are creating a bottleneck on the refinery sector and thus contributing to the increased prices. “Nothing has been decided on this point” under negotiations on the financial perspectives 2007-2013, however, Mr Krecké added. Mr Devedjian also proposed that the Commission look into invoicing Community purchases of gas and oil in euros. The Commissioner for Energy welcomed the proposals of the French minister, which, he said, “come just at the right time”. As regards demand, the Europeans agreed on the idea of promoting energy savings and energy efficiency and a policy which favours renewable energy sources, which would help to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. “Much progress remains to be made in industry, transport and the residential sector”, said Mr Devedjian. “Almost 20% of energy used in homes could be saved”, Mr Krecké added.
On safety of supply, the Twenty-Five intend “to step up energy dialogue”, which is often tricky, with the main oil and gas producing and consuming countries. “The EU must speak with one voice, it will have more clout, particularly with OPEC”, Mr Krecké emphasised, pointing out that the EU is to meet OPEC representatives on 9 June. At this meeting, the Twenty-Five will ask members of the cartel, which controls three-quarters of world oilfields, to boost their investments in exploration and production. Mr Krecké also stressed the need to boost energy dialogue with Russia at Community level, especially on the gas market: “we must promote a harmonised and coordinated Community action rather than individual national action”, he said. We need “Russian policy to be easier to predict, which is not the case with what is going on in the Yukos trial”, he said, referring to recent decisions by Moscow on restrictions on investments in Russia.