Russia, United States Seek To Intensify Energy Cooperation

(Pipeline system, liquefied natural gas viewed as areas of interest)

The United States and Russia have pledged to intensify their cooperation
on removing barriers to energy trade and investment and other issues
through the existing energy dialogue.

President Bush and President Putin said in a joint statement issued after
their February 24 meeting in Bratislava, the Slovak Republic, that they
want U.S. and Russian officials to develop recommendations and specific
proposals in areas of energy security, transparency, commercial energy
partnerships and energy-related environmental problems.

The statement cited support for the expansion of the pipeline system and
liquefied natural gas capacity in Russia with a view that such
enhancements, together with a more transparent business and investment
environment, will help increase Russian oil and gas exports to the U.S.
and other markets.

At a news conference following the meeting Putin said: 的n the years
2010, 2011, a large amount of liquefied natural gas can be supplied from
Russia to the United States.・

Several energy projects should be initiated no later than 2008, the
statement said.

According to the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information
Administration, Russia has the world's largest natural gas reserves and
the eighth-largest reserve of proven crude oil.

The original 2002 joint statement of the two leaders in which they
launched the U.S.-Russia Energy Dialogue can be viewed at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020524-8.html.

Following is the text of the 2005 joint statement:

(begin text)

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Bratislava, Slovak Republic)
February 24, 2005

Joint statement by President George W. Bush and President Vladimir V.
Putin

U.S.-RUSSIAN ENERGY COOPERATION

Cooperation on energy issues remains an area of great promise for
U.S.-Russian relations.� We will work further to realize the vision for
our energy cooperation in all aspects described in our statement in May
2002, including through the mechanisms of the Commercial Energy Dialogue
and the Energy Working Group.� Accordingly, we have instructed our
ministers to continue their energy dialogue, concentrating on ways to
enhance energy security, diversify energy supplies, improve the
transparency of the business and investment environment, reduce obstacles
to increased commercial energy partnerships, and develop resources in an
environmentally safe manner.

We call upon our Ministers of Energy and Commerce to develop
recommendations, which we can support at one of our upcoming meetings, on
how to further intensify and develop our energy dialogue.� Those
recommendations will focus on identifying barriers to energy trade and
investment, promoting initiatives to remove them on the basis of
predictability, fairness and law, and suggesting specific proposals for
cooperating in developing energy trade and investment.

We will promote the creation of transparent tax, legal, regulatory, and
contractual conditions for our companies' cooperation, and support
Russia's pipeline system development, which will create the preconditions
for increasing deliveries of oil and gas export, including to the U.S.
market.

We are interested in increasing U.S. commercial investment in Russia, so
as to create additional capacity for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in
Russia, and also with the aim of increasing LNG exports to U.S. markets.�
We would welcome increased Russian oil exports to the world market and an
increased presence of imports from Russia in the United States.� We would
also welcome expanding mutual investments in the energy sectors of both
countries.

The initiation of several concrete projects should be targeted for no
later than 2008.

(end text)