ENERGY SECURITY
RISKS AND GLOBAL FINANCIAL MARKETS APPRAISED
BY OPEC AND MAJOR ENERGY AND FINANCIAL
COMPANIES FROM EU, RUSSIA AND USA
UNECE Committee
on Sustainable Energy is Launching Energy
Security Forum
Salle du Conseil,
Palais des Nations, Geneva
10:00 a.m., 20 November 2003
Geneva, 7 November 2003
- Energy security is today
of upper most importance to policy makers,
energy industries and the general public.
There is an increased sense of vulnerability
and concern about the future availability
of reasonably priced energy. The instability
and continuing conflict in Iraq, the
tensions in the Middle East, sabotage
and terrorist attacks in major oil and
gas producing countries, the unfavourable
investment climate in a number of producing
countries, the growing energy import
dependence of major consuming countries,
and the corporate and policy failures,
such as the Enron bankruptcy and the
recent electric power blackouts in North
America and Europe, are all contributing
to heightened anxieties.
In response to these
pressing issues and as a follow-up to
the successful Energy Security Roundtable
held last year, the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UNECE) Committee
on Sustainable Energy will launch an
Energy Security Forum during its annual
session on Thursday 20 November 2003
beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the Salle
du Conseil of the Palais des Nations.
Panellists and delegates will be invited
to share their views on how energy security
risks and the financial markets affect
each other.
Some of the most critical
political concerns debated recently,
in particular at the UN Security Council,
have direct implications for energy
security and the economies of UNECE
member States. The Energy Security Forum
will address the persistent vulnerability
and instability of world energy markets
and its interaction with global financial
markets under the auspices of the UN
Economic and Social Council.
The United Nations'
contribution to resolving these issues
lies in its convening capacity for policy
dialogue as illustrated by the Global
Compact launched by the Secretary-General
of the United Nations with the private
sector. The Energy Security Forum will
bring together a unique group of energy
companies, OPEC, key consuming countries,
major non-OPEC hydrocarbon exporters
and leading financial institutions to
determine how energy security risks
are perceived by different constituencies
and how such risks can be mitigated
through dialogue.
The Energy Security
Forum is designed to promote a dialogue
for reconciling three different points
of view: energy security risks as perceived
by the energy industry, financial institutions
and governments. The Forum will be launched
with a series of presentations during
the Discourse Session that examine how
energy security risks and financial
markets interact. The Dialogue Session
will then initiate a debate on energy
security risks between senior executives
of the energy industries, the financial
community and delegates of the intergovernmental
UNECE Committee on Sustainable Energy.
The panellists for
the Forum are: H.E. Mr. Alvaro Silva-Calderon,
Secretary General, OPEC; Mr. Red Cavaney,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
American Petroleum Institute; Mr. Vagit
Alekperov, President and CEO, Lukoil
/ Mr. Dmitry Tarasov, First Vice President,
Lukoil; Mr. Bruno Porro, Chief Risk
Officer and Member of the Board, Swiss
Re; Mr. Robert McFarlane, Chief Executive
Officer, Energy and Communication Solutions;
Mr. Albert Bressand, Executive Senior
Vice President, Shell International;
Mr. Trevor Pitman, Group Managing Director,
Fitch Ratings; Mr. Matthew Harris, Managing
Director, Co-Head Global Energy Group,
Credit Suisse First Boston; Mr. Igor
Makarov, President, ITERA Group; Mr.
Victor Kaluzhny, Deputy Foreign Minister
and Special Envoy of H.E. Mr. Vladimir
Putin, President of the Russian Federation;
Mr. Alan Banks, Chief Executive Officer,
Core Ratings; Mr. Magne Seljeflot, Chairman,
Aon Energy Group; Mr. Togrul Bagirov,
Executive Vice President, Moscow International
Petroleum Club; Mr. Wilfried Czernie,
Senior General Manager, Ruhrgas; Mr.
Leonid Bokhanovsky, Senior Vice President,
StroyTransGas; Mr. Igor Solyarsky, Vice
President, Transneft; Mr. Stanislav
Tsygankov, Director of Department, Gazprom;
and Mr. Nigel Alington, Executive Director,
Aon Risk Consulting.
There will be a press
conference with selected speakers held
in Salle III at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday
20 November.
For more information please contact:
Mr. Frederic Romig
Industrial Restructuring, Energy
and Enterprise Development Division
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Telephone: +41(0)22
917 41 40, 917 24 07
Telefax: +41(0)22 917 02 27, 917
00 38
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr. Sead Vilogorac
Industrial Restructuring, Energy
and Enterprise Development Division
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Telephone: +41(0)22
917 24 62
Telefax: +41(0)22 917 00 38
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/ie
Ref: ECE/IREEDD/03/P15