3 January 2002
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham made his first visit to Russiain late November. During his visit,Secretary Abraham and a team of Department of Energy officials repre-sented the United States in eventshighlighting the completion andopening of the Caspian PipelineConsortium (CPC) pipeline facility.Unfortunately, bad weather pre- vented Secretary Abraham from actu-ally participating in the official open-ing ceremonies in Novorossiysk,Russia, on Nov. 27, 2001.“The opening of the Caspian Pipe-line marks a new day in the long his-tory of Russian-American relations—aday of progress and a day of hope,”Secretary Abraham said. “Eight com-panies from six different countriesshowed they could work for a com-mon goal, to transcend the difficul-ties of the past and bring the worldthe energy it needs. This pipeline will strengthen international energy security by adding more than a mil-lion barrels of oil a day to globalsupply, and by creating new jobsand billions of dollars in revenue.”The CPC pipeline and facilities— the largest joint venture to date inRussia—required an investment of about $2.5 billion by eight compa-nies, including Chevron, Texaco,and ExxonMobil. The pipeline en-hances energy security by makingavailable more crude oil from the
Caspian Pipeline opening, nuclear materialsprotection highlight Secretary’s trip to Russia
Caspian Sea and enhanc-ing diversification of en-ergy supplies. It alsoprovides a direct linkfrom Kazakhstan’s Tengizoil field to the Black Seaand on to Western mar-kets. Cooperation wasessential among thegovernments of Russia,Kazakhstan, and Oman inorder to achieve the com-pleted pipeline.Following two days of meetings in Moscow, Sec-retary Abraham and Rus-sian Federation Minister of AtomicEnergy Alexander Rumyantsev agreedto accelerate and expand joint U.S./Russia efforts to strengthen the pro-tection of nuclear materials. Theagreement builds on commitments by Presidents Bush and Putin at theirrecent Crawford, Texas, summit and will involve both bilateral efforts anda joint commitment to urge moreeffective international action.“Minister Rumyantsev and Iagreed to be personally engaged ona day-to-day basis in supervising thiseffort,” Secretary Abraham said. “Weboth take this issue very seriously,especially in the aftermath of theSeptember 11 attacks.”Secretary Abraham and MinisterRumyantsev agreed on the necessity of closer cooperation on enhancingnuclear weapons nonproliferation; im-proving measures on nuclear materialsphysical protection, control and ac-counting; and preventing illegal traffick-ing and handling of nuclear materials. A final stop of Secretary Abraham’s visit was Vienna, Austria, where hemet with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director GeneralEl-Baradei and addressed the IAEABoard of Governors on Nov. 30, 2001.The Secretary continued the efforts hebegan in Moscow by emphasizing theimportance of efforts to enhance IAEA’srole in strengthening international stan-dards for the protection and accountingof nuclear materials. The text of Secre-tary Abraham’s remarks is available at
http://www.energy.gov/HQDocs/speeches/2001/novss/IAEA_Board_Gov.html
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On Dec. 10, 2001, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham named39 members to the Department of Energy’s newly formed Electricity Advisory Board. The Board, char-tered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act on Nov. 9, 2001, wasestablished by Secretary Abraham toattain authoritative advice fromacross all segments of the electricity industry.S. Marce Fuller and E. LinnDraper will serve as Chairpersonand Vice Chairperson of the Board,
Secretary names Electricity Advisory Board
respectively. “I am pleased that Ms.Fuller and Dr. Draper have agreed toserve the country in this crucial role,”Secretary Abraham said. “The Elec-tricity Advisory Board will focus onsome of the most challenging issuesfacing the electricity industry and theDepartment of Energy today.”Fuller is President and Chief Ex-ecutive Officer of Mirant, Atlanta, Ga.She has served in a variety of seniorposts within the firm, including Presi-dent and Chief Executive Officer of its North American Energy RiskManagement and Marketing Opera-tions. Prior to joining Mirant, she worked for General Electric andSouthern Company.Draper is Chairman of the Boardand Chief Executive Officer of American Electric Power Co., Inc.,Columbus, Ohio. He has more than20 years experience in the energy industry. A complete list of the advisory board members is available at
http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases01/decpr/pr01205.htm
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Minister Rumyantsev and Secretary Abraham at the conclusion of a meeting in Russia.
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