Amid recent soaring oil and gas prices, leaders from the Group
of Eight (G8) industrialized countries are hoping to reach some
consensus at their annual summit on how to control and manage
insufficient energy resources in the world.
Oil price briefly surpassed US$78 a barrel on Friday and
finished four percent higher for the last week after Israeli
attacks against Lebanon-backed Hezbollah militants stoked fears of
a wider Middle East conflict and a possible oil-supply
disruption.
The price hike will likely further stress the relationship
between energy suppliers and their big clients, most of them G8
members.
As the summit host, Russian President Vladimir Putin put energy
security at the top of the official agenda.
"We believe it is crucial to find a solution to a problem which
directly influences the social and economic development of all
countries," Putin said.
Putin chose energy security not just because it is important in
its own right but also because it is one of the few areas of global
concerns in which Russia is still a major player, some analysts
say.
Among G8, Russia is the smallest one measured by economic size.
However, Russia holds the world's largest reserves of natural gas
and remains the second-largest exporter of oil after Saudi
Arabia.
The country is currently extracting just a fraction of its
reserves, estimated at 50 trillion cubic meters of gas and 75
billion barrels of oil. Now around one quarter of gas and 18
percent of oil consumed in Europe are imported from Russia.
Russia is an energy superpower, a point Putin will no doubt seek
to emphasize during the summit.
However, the summit also provides an occasion for Europe and the
United States to remind Russia of not using the energy weapon as a
tool of foreign policy.
The Kremlin came under criticism in May from US Vice President
Dick Cheney for using its energy reserves as "tools of intimidation
and blackmail," hinting at Russia's cutting off gas supply to its
neighboring Ukraine in January.
At this summit, the United States and the European Union (EU)
are expected to press Russia to renounce any aggressive use of the
"energy weapon" and commit itself to opening its oil and gas fields
to Western investment.
Putin, however, has accused the West of practicing double
standards. He claims that Russia has proved itself a reliable
energy supplier for Europe over the past 50 years.
The Russian president has also argued that, to promote energy
security, Russian gas company Gazprom must be allowed to expand
deeper into Europe rather than be met with political
intervention.
Russian officials are complaining that the Western countries
only want Russia to be a safe and reliable energy supplier but
Russia deserves much more.
Obviously, Russia and other G8 countries are widely divided on
the definition of energy security. "Russia wants to achieve
security of demand, but the others in the group want security of
supply," said EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.
G8 includes four EU member states -- Britain, France, Germany
and Italy -- as well as the United States, Canada and Japan.
The G8 leaders are expected to sign a document pledging
cooperation on enhancing international energy security. However,
Russia's differences with the West over energy will not be so
easily overcome, analysts warn.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2006)
