The Central Asian Republic of Turkmenistan possesses very substantial gas reserves and has ambitious plans for their production and export. However, "the realisation of Turkmenistan's vast potential as an exporter of hydrocarbons is largely dependent on the transit of its energy through the territories of neighbouring countries," stated Ambassador André Mernier, Secretary General of the Energy Charter Secretariat, at a high level investment conference in London "Oil and Gas in Turkmenistan" on...
16 April 2008 marked ten years since the Energy Charter Treaty came into full legal force. The Energy Charter Secretariat held a reception at Palais d'Egmont in Brussels to celebrate this anniversary, marking the Treaty's achievements over these years and it's readiness to embrace new challenges posed by international energy markets.
"While this ten-year period is not very long for an international treaty, the Energy Charter Treaty has proven to be a successful and well-functioning legal...
"India has much to gain from the application and expansion of international rules of the game in the energy sector in the broader South Asian sub-continent," stated the Secretary General of the Energy Charter Secretariat, Ambassador André Mernier, during his keynote address at the Fifth Asia Gas Partnership Summit, in New Delhi, 14-15 April 2008. In an event which focused on energy security and the Asian gas market, the Secretary General underlined the fact that endorsement of some of the core...
The reverberating topic of the security of Europe's gas supply featured prominently amongst the discussions at the 14th Annual Flame Conference, which took place in Amsterdam, 3-7 March 2008.
The decision was taken at the 18th Meeting of the Energy Charter Conference, the governing body for the Energy Charter Process, which met in Istanbul, Turkey, on 7 December 2007. Following the approval of Afghanistan’s accession, the Minister of Economy of Afghanistan, H.E. Mr Jalil Shams, thanked the...
Challenges of international cooperation and the rules governing international energy trade were high on the agenda at the 20th World Energy Congress, which took place in Rome on 11-15 November 2007.
The attached article by the Secretary General André Mernier examines the relevance and role of the Energy Charter Treaty and the Charter's principles in today's energy world. It was published in October 2007 in the Journal 'Energy Technologies from Italy 2007' (www.energiaitalia.com).
Delegates to the Energy Charter's Trade and Transit Group had the chance to see for themselves the growing role of LNG for European gas supply with a site visit to the LNG Terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium, on 25 October 2007.
The Zeebrugge LNG Terminal is operated by Fluxys and is currently in the process of being expanded following an 'open season' market survey launched in 2003.
Uzbekistan has ambitious plans to expand energy production and export, and sees foreign capital and expertise as an integral part of this strategy. This was the message passed by the Uzbek authorities to the Secretary General André Mernier during his visit to Tashkent on 9-10 October 2007.
With increasing reliance in many countries on internationally traded oil and gas, the conditions under which oil and gas are transported and sold are an important component of overall energy security. A discussion of international pricing mechanisms for oil and gas continued on 8 June 2007 in Moscow at a seminar organised jointly by the Energy Charter Secretariat, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Energy, and Gazprom Export.
Turkey can make a pivotal contribution to regional energy security, and this role was the subject of a speech by the Secretary General André Mernier on 10 May 2007 to the Forum Istanbul 2007, a leading Turkish platform for high-level policy debate.
The speech by the Energy Charter Secretary General Amb. Mernier to the 60th Anniversary Session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, special session on sustainable energy policies, Geneva, 27 April 2007.
