Oil companies, experts
discuss alternative energy development
By Greg Flakus
VOA
Houston
Petroleumworld.com 02 07 06
Around
1,800 oil and gas company executives, government energy ministers
and other players in the world energy sector have gathered in
Houston for the annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA)
conference, known as CERAWeek. This year's meeting will have a
special emphasis on developing new sources of energy.
The theme
for this year's conference is "The New Prize: Energy's Next
Era," and that encompasses everything from extraction of
oil from Canada's extensive tar sands to development of solar
power and ethanol.
James
Rosenfield
CERA Senior Advisor James Rosenfield is one of the three men who
founded the conference in 1983. He tells VOA that many of the
big oil companies represented here are already investing a lot
of money in alternative energy programs.
"A lot
of the new economy of energy is going to be driven by the international
oil companies such as Shell, BP and Exxon, who are really investing
billions and billions of dollars in R and D (Research and Development)
for new sources of supply, solar alternatives, fuel cells, distributed
generation, really across the spectrum," Rosenfield said.
"In the case of BP, their focus has been on electric power,
actually, using a lot of their technology to look at alternative
and renewable sources of electric power generation."
Rosenfield
says using CERAWeek to focus on such issues as alternative energy,
non-conventional oil sources and conservation could have important
consequences worldwide because participants represent every aspect
of the international energy business.
"We will
have exploration and production companies, national oil companies,
integrated oil companies, but also utilities, energy end users,
consumers such as Dow and Boeing and some of the automotive companies
as well and then the financial institutions that provide the capital,
in many cases, for the industry," he said.
Included in
the mix of participants are representatives from several member
nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,
known as OPEC. One of the chief speakers at the opening ceremony
Tuesday will be Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister, Ali Naimi.
OPEC leaders
have at times expressed concern over US and European efforts to
develop alternative energy because it could divert investment
from development of conventional energy sources. In an appearance
here in Houston last year, the head of the Saudi oil company,
Aramco, said his nation's vast oil reserves represent a reliable
supply of energy that alternative energy programs are not likely
to equal any time soon.
But Rosenfield
says he does not believe the Saudis are against development of
other energy sources.
"I think
that the Saudis actually take a view that we are in this together,
that we need to build the world's oil and energy supply, to build
a stable and diversified supply base," he added. "We
will hear from Mr. Naimi and what he has to say, but, while they
are committed to an oil and hydrocarbon economy, they also recognize
that over multi-decades we are going to be looking towards a lot
of different sources of supply as well."
In his state
of the union address last week, President Bush called for programs
that would lessen U.S. dependence on foreign sources of oil and
gave special emphasis to the development of biofuels like ethanol.
Brazil, which has a successful ethanol program based on fuel from
sugar cane, is also represented at CERAWeek and Rosenfield says
he expects a lot of discussion among participants about such programs.
The
conference wraps up on Friday.
AFP
02 07 06
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© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
