The U.S.-Russia Energy Working Group conducted its fourth official meeting on December 16, 2003 in Washington D.C.
The Russian delegation also participated in a site visit to the Maryland Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas Facility on December 15 and attended the Liquefied Natural Gas Summit on December 17-18, 2003.
Highlights follow from the Russian delegation site visit to Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas Facility, Energy Working Group meeting, and LNG Summit.
Cove Point LNG Facility
The Cove Point site visit was an excellent opportunity for the Russian delegation to see what one element of the LNG chain of facilities looks like and what it takes to build and operate. It was an excellent
overview. The Russian delegation enjoyed the visit to Cove Point and asked a number of questions about: the nature of the long-term contact Dominion established with its suppliers Statoil, BP, and Shell; profit
figures for Cove Point, the role Cove Point plays in Dominion's overall activities; technical questions about tank constructions, upgrades, materials; among many others.
Energy Working Group (EWG) meeting
Please see attached protocols and agenda.
Three of the EWG's subgroups -- energy efficiency, oil markets, and information sharing -- met for informal discussions. The plenary session of the EWG was chaired by Vicky Bailey of PI and Leonid Tropko,
First Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation. The plenary session heard reports of the work of the three subgroups that met earlier in the day and also a summary of the oil spill prevention and
response workshop that took place in Moscow on December 4-5, 2003. Presentations also were made regarding LNG, electricity, and the international partnership for the Hydrogen Economy. The participants also
discussed the report of the Commercial Energy Dialogue presented in September at the Commercial Energy Summit. Participants also agreed to work together on the Murmansk oil pipeline. At the conclusion of the
meeting three agreements were signed: 1. the meeting protocol (English version) (Russian version);
2. an agreement with the Energy Information Administration on information sharing (English version) (Russian version);
3. an addendum to the oil spill protocol that also will be signed by Norway (English version) (Russian version).
