Good morning it is a pleasure to be here and thank you for inviting me.
The opportunity to open a conference where the theme is "Energy for a Sustainable and Secure Future" is a great honor and a great challenge. All you have to do is look at your agenda to understand the extent and important nature of the issues at hand. You have plenary sessions and roundtables seeking insight into how communities will deal with future energy decisions, and how science and technology breakthroughs, past and future, will contribute.
You will investigate how to collaborate in a more powerful way and how to integrate climate change into energy planning. Importantly, tomorrow you begin to tackle sessions such as decision making in the "real world": the need to guide research priorities and expanding overall understanding into why people make the decisions they do. This is a very ambitious agenda for just two days. But it is also an exciting agenda and it could not be more timely from both a short term and a long term perspective.
To make progress towards providing energy for a sustainable and secure future, we must act now, in the short term, in order to have real progress and success for the long term. We may not be able to solve all of the issues now, but prolonging the start is not an option. But why is this truer now than ever before?
In the last two years energy has been a focal point of almost everyone's agenda, in this country and around the world. More than ever, energy is seen as a driver or critical factor in political events. It is the key to economic advancement or decline. And energy continues to be a core concern driving social issues related to lifestyle and the protection of our environment. People are worried about energy security in terms of affordable price, reliable supply, long term availability, and the consequences of an ever increasing demand for energy.
These are complex issues, as evidenced by your agenda, and they must be analyzed in the broader context of sustainability. Sustainability that is founded on a realistic view of the world we live in now, and the factors that will influence the world of future generations. For example, can the world cope with a population which is rising by a quarter of a million every day, and which will reach almost 7.5 billion within a decade? Can we cope with the rapid urbanization of the world? 2.5 billion people live in cities now. By 2015, perhaps 4 billion will. Is there a sustainable way of meeting the needs of the world for energy, and food, and water? Can we somehow bring into the global economy those who are excluded? How will we deal with the 1.5 billion people who subsist and then die in conditions of absolute and desperate poverty? Can we transcend what appears to be a harsh and unacceptable trade off between the goal of improving living standards; the goal of protecting the natural environment which sustains human life?
And can policy makers agree on the frameworks that will allow and encourage industry and others to work toward meeting these challenges? These are all important questions, and of course there are many other issues and challenges, culture and politics, just to name two. But from my perspective, the common element required in dealing with these issues is sustainability. It has to be the overarching priority on the agenda because, unless we can secure that sustainability, nothing else will matter. To illustrate that assertion, I want to talk about energy since this is the area where I have some knowledge and experience. Also, as I mentioned earlier it is an essential element of any discussion of sustainability.
Let me set the stage by first describing to you what we, BP, see as the major challenges and concerns facing our industry today. Then I would then like to tell you about how we as a global energy company are approaching the need for a secure and sustainable energy future. I will finish by touching on the roles of others in addressing these challenges and how BP and others in industry must work in partnership in order to have the best chance at solving these concerns. First, the demand for energy is rising and the world's population continues to grow. In an hour's time, the world will have 10,000 more citizens. They want the heat, light and mobility which we take for granted. If we are to have a sustainable future the demand for energy that supports these basic needs must be met. On a worldwide basis there are probably an additional 200 million new customers for commercial energy every year. By itself, China's demand for oil grew by an astounding 2.3 million barrels per day between the end of 1999 and the beginning of this year. On the figures produced by the International Energy Agency, demand for oil by 2015 will be over 90 million barrels a day, and the demand for natural gas could be more than 40 percent higher than it is now.
Some people hope to see the growth in demand met by a dramatic shift to renewable and alternative sources of energy. One day that hope will be fulfilled, but that day is still a long way off. Today, all of the renewable and alternative sources of supply provide around 2.5 percent of world demand. By 2020 the forecast is that this will rise to perhaps 3 percent. Of course this assumes the current emphasis and known technology.
We at BP think there will be innovation and new technology and are working hard to expand the role of renewables and alternatives, and I will talk more about our plans in this area a little later. But the point is, for the foreseeable future, energy demand will still be satisfied largely by hydrocarbons, with oil and gas leading the way.
Another reality is that the requirement for international trade of oil and gas is growing and future sustainability will require a secure and stable trading environment. Today the world will use 85 million barrels of oil. Over half of the oil used everyday is traded. By 2015 that could increase to two thirds. That means more than 65 million barrels a day of oil will cross an international border before it reaches the consumer.
In each of the four leading economies of the world, the U.S., Europe, Japan and now China, the need for increased volumes of oil and gas can only be met by trade and import. This will also be the case in many developing countries.
An added point of concern is that supply and demand are not co-located. Looking ahead, almost 80 percent of traded oil will come from just three areas: Russia, West Africa and the Persian Gulf. By 2020, 25 million barrels a day, or one barrel in three, will on most forecasts come from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. This same disparity of supply and demand exists with natural gas resources, as nearly 75percent of the known resources exist in the same three areas. And that is assuming that everyone else is producing at, or very close to, full capacity. Some of these places, such as Iraq, remain for the moment beyond the reach of international investment.
That concentration of trade, and the associated sense of dependency for both oil and gas, is a second cause of concern as we consider the factors affecting a sustainable and secure future.
Third, there is the need for investment to ensure that the resources which are available are developed and brought to market in time to meet rising demand. This means investment in developing new oil and gas fields and in establishing new infrastructure, such as pipelines and Liquefied Natural Gas terminals.
The scale of the necessary investment is rising. According to the International Energy Agency the annual requirement for investment in all forms of energy is now around 560 billion dollars per year. Of that, more than a third or about 200 billion dollars per year is in oil-field development and the infrastructure necessary to bring it to market. That represents a 20 percent increase over the level of investment which was being made through the 1990s. This need for investment can be met if the markets and market incentives are permitted to work without artificial or short term interference. And of course, the fourth point is the longer term challenge of the environment. I think the period when people could live in the hope that issues such as climate change would be disproved and go away has passed.
The science is unfinished of course. There are things we don't know and there always will be. But most scientists and academicians have come to the conclusion that precautionary action is necessary and BP agrees. Climate change is a long term issue, of course, but year by year the point at which we could face unacceptable harsh choices is coming nearer.
So, we at BP believe that growing demand and growing trade, along with a requirement for increased investment and the need to handle the long term environmental challenge of climate change, are the most important issues facing the energy industry and policy makers involved in energy issues.
On top of these issues have come the shorter term events which put energy policy and energy related activities in the headlines. A single hurricane in the U.S., albeit in an area of concentrated energy infrastructure, had a far-reaching effect on the entire world market. The market responded, and responded very quickly, but the effects were felt and continue to be felt in both economic and political terms throughout the world.
So, for a mixture of different reasons, the energy prospect is uncomfortable. In the eyes of many people, the outlook appears insecure and unsustainable.
There is a worry that oil supplies are limited; a sense of growing dependence and concern that those who rely on trade and imports may be vulnerable to events that cause supply disruption. There is a concern that continued growth in emissions will lead to an environmental challenge which, in the end, could only be answered by a dramatic slowdown in economic activity. Some believe that these problems will escalate to the point of crisis.
BP believes that is a mistaken view because it ignores a fundamental characteristic of human behavior to respond to perceived risk by taking precautionary action and finding a different way forward. I believe the same is true for society and for organizations, whether private or public. It is not their nature to just ignore the factors affecting our future. It is why we have conferences like this one. Individuals and organizations will innovate and will find ways to mitigate risk. History demonstrates that they will act to change what may seem to be the inevitable course. I believe this is happening now in my company and in many of the companies and organizations represented here today. Energy for a sustainable and secure future certainly presents challenges but also opportunities. So, who is BP and what is our role in addressing these challenges?
As many of you know, BP operates across 100 countries around the world. We are the combination of familiar brand names such as Castrol, Amoco, and ARCO. All of these are under the BP umbrella in the U.S. We produce oil and gas. We process and refine hydrocarbons and transport and sell fuels.
We sell mobility, heat and light and provide energy based solutions to meet our customer's needs. We generate profits on behalf of our shareholders, people who are mostly retirees and those saving for their future. We produce tax revenues for governments: 7.4 billion dollars through the first nine months of 2005 alone.
I believe our role is to provide a distinctive and reliable supply of products and services to our consumers. The distinctiveness comes from our ability to innovate, to apply knowledge and technology to our customers' and partners' problems and to turn them into opportunities. We must do this and generate profits for those who trust us with their savings.
But business must also take a long term view in order to endure. We have to support conditions that enable the market to work effectively and sustainably. This includes acting responsibly and helping to solve the challenges and problems facing society. Unless we do this, how can we have a sustainable future as a firm?
The answer does not lie in making business do something other than business. It is not sufficient, nor strategic, to just add activities called "corporate social responsibility" or to use a discussion of the so-called "triple bottom line" in describing what we do. These terms can be misleading as they imply that social and environmental costs and benefits are external to the core business. Responsibility is not something outside the process of doing good business; it must be integral to everything we do as a company.
BP's commitment to "responsibility" must be based not on words, but on the actions of our business, day-in and day-out, in every piece of activity, and in every aspect of our behavior. Otherwise, we cannot expect to achieve sustainability. Good business should generate a profit by satisfying human needs, and it should do this in a way which is sustainable. We are not perfect but we are trying to meet the concerns I mentioned earlier with this approach to business.
In responding to the concern about increasing demand, BP is investing in the next generation of oil and gas resources around the world.
In future years, oil from the Caspian Sea will produce some 1.1 million barrels of oil per day from a country that last year produced only 91 thousand barrels. This oil will be brought to market to the Mediterranean and finally to world markets such as the U.S. through one of the great engineering projects of our time, the almost eleven hundred mile long BTC pipeline that runs through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. The BTC line will also bring enormous environmental benefits by displacing some 400 tankers a year which would otherwise sail through the Bosporus, one of the most sensitive and crowded waterways in the world. This project is a good example of both meeting demand and mitigating the risk of environmental disaster.
In Russia, we established a business some three years ago with an investment of around 8 billion dollars. In that period of time, we've been able to increase reserves in the fields which are being developed, to increase production rates, and to identify whole new fields because of the technology we provide. Now, three years after the transaction was complete, production is up by 35 percent to about 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, with reserves continuing to grow year by year.
In other international areas, new oil continues to come on stream. For example, new oil production has begun in Angola, and new gas development is taking place in Trinidad and Indonesia.
Closer to home, we are investing 6 billion dollars per year in the U.S., and produce some 750,000 barrels of oil and 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas natural gas per day. This allows us to respond to increasing demand in the U.S. by maximising what we produce from our existing fields. We are preparing to develop new resources here including the huge volumes of natural gas already discovered, but lacking the infrastructure required to bring them to market.
In Alaska, BP and our partners expect to invest over 20 billion dollars to construct a 3,500 mile pipeline through Canada, resulting in an increased supply of some 4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to the lower 48. We recently announced a 2 billion dollar additional investment in the development of natural gas supplies in the Rocky Mountains. In the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, we produce over 350,000 barrels a day net, with more production scheduled to come on line.
We also have two proposed LNG projects, one on the East Coast and one on the Gulf Coast, at a cost of 1.2 billion dollars. These projects will allow us to access our natural gas position in Trinidad and elsewhere in the world; and if approved, could potentially add 2.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas capacity to supply markets in the U.S.
In pursuing each of these projects, we seek to act responsibly throughout their life cycles, from understanding the environmental and social issues when we first investigate a location through decommissioning. For all of these projects, we take steps to understand and then to minimize the footprint and impact of our operations on the natural environment. In doing so, we engage with local communities, scientific organizations and national stakeholders to ensure the sharing of knowledge, concerns and best practices.
Because the rising demand for energy takes us beyond familiar horizons in the search for oil and natural gas, the need for an effective and well understood manner of responsible operations is critical. To do this it is increasingly important that we focus on assessing risk and mitigating impact. We will operate in an area only if we are convinced we can properly manage the risks to the environment and comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
We have recently gone through a process of challenging our approach to operating in sensitive areas because we believe it is important that we apply a single, transparent process and performance standard across all our operations in all areas. Late last year we consulted with several international environmental organizations to get feed back on early versions of this updated process. Their input allows us to further refine and enhance our processes.
Wherever we operate, our goal is to do no damage to the environment and we believe that a more effective, consistent, and transparent process of assessing and mitigating risks will help us to work toward that goal. Pursued responsibly we believe our projects can make a substantial contribution to long term energy security over the next decade and also help move the U.S. energy mix in a direction which benefits the environment.
These are just the projects and the resources being brought on line by BP.The industry as a whole is responding to supply needs as well. The 1990s were a period of relatively low investment, for the simple reason that prices and returns were low and cash flow was limited. But that began to change with the turn of the century. The underpinning of prices from 2000 onwards has increased the funds available, and the industry has responded by increasing investment. Over the last five years annual upstream investment by the five largest companies in the industry has risen by over 50 percent and is now running at around 50 billion dollars per year.
But we can and must do more. We must continue to meet the needs of today, while planning for the needs of tomorrow. Wise use of technology will help us deliver these needs both in the short term and the long term.
During your conference, you will be discussing many interesting and important topics such as the role of technology, how to make the right decisions about which technologies to pursue and how to maximize benefits from these technologies.
We at BP are interested in these matters. Both technological and commercial innovation and know-how are fundamental to our business. We have to be good at many technologies just to remain competitive.
We also need to go beyond this by selecting a small number of areas that we believe will put us ahead of the game. Competitive advantage comes from our ability to put technology to work where it really counts and where it creates business opportunity and results. Basic research and development is vital, and we count on partnerships with many of the organizations here today to accomplish this R&D. But we know that our industry will be measured by outputs and not inputs.
We will not be judged by how much money we spend on R&D, on how many proprietary technologies we have, but rather on whether we are delivering better performance, whether we are able to deliver products that are cheaper, better performing, and more convenient. Because of this, we have a clear bias toward the rapid take-up, application and propagation of technology. This is where the real competencies and advantages of industry lies; in taking the results of research and development and applying technology at scale in our day to day business activity, where it matters most.
Today, technology must result in rising to the challenge of meeting the world's increasing demand for hydrocarbons and accessing resources in more challenging environments. It means improving recovery factors, delivering new products with increased performance, lower cost and less impact on the environment.
For example, advanced seismic technology has allowed us to identify and evaluate subsurface formations that conventional seismic would not allow. These clearer images, especially of formations underlying salt structures, reduce exploration and development risks and costs. This is important since a significant portion of current and future deepwater resources, such as in the Gulf of Mexico, lie beneath salt canopies.
Another example is in our Alaskan North Slope assets where, in addition to a significant amount of light oil, there is a large volume of viscous oil, oil that cannot flow economically under normal conditions. However, we have developed lateral, virtually horizontal, drilling technology that allows these wells to penetrate a much greater length of reservoir. This increases production rates by up to ten times with little or no increase in the footprint or our activities. Use of this technology has contributed to the recovery rate of oil from Prudhoe Bay to rise from 45 percent to over 60 percent and even that may not be the limit.
Creating differentiation in our fuels business is more than just fancy marketing. We sought out and developed technology to improve the quality of our fuels and to give our customers more of what they want, better performance and lower emissions. This is good for the environment and good for business.
Technology for tomorrow will help us meet the challenge of extending the hydrocarbon resource base and enhance security of supply. It will improve the way we use hydrocarbon products and create a path to a lower carbon, sustainable energy future.
This brings me to the challenge of protecting the environment.
To BP, the terms of this challenge are clear. Unless we take action the increased use of hydrocarbons will lead to increased emissions of greenhouse gases. The atmospheric concentration of carbon which today is at around 370 ppm will rise. The best available science suggests that the concentration level above which sustainability could be in question is around 500 - 550 ppm.
Unless we take precautionary action the concentration will continue to rise towards that level. We can wait for some global political solution which may or may not ever come or we can begin to act. The challenge is serious but there is no need for fatalism. The problem can be solved and the work by BP and others has begun to show us how.
Within BP, we started by reducing the emissions from our own operations. We set a target of reducing emissions by 10 percent below our 1990 base-line. We met the target, ahead of schedule, and we found that rather than costing us money, the process added value, over 600 million dollars of value. Most of the reductions were achieved by improving efficiency, changing business practices, and eliminating routine flaring. We are now capitalizing on the successes and the learning's from that process by investing at least an additional 350 million dollars over the next five years in a focused effort to wring out even more efficiency improvement. Initial indications are that these new investments will pay off as well.
This energy efficiency program builds on our learning from the internal trading system we ran a few years ago. Importantly, both programs were designed to allow us to apply resources in the most effective way and not just ask every business unit to achieve the same efficiency improvement or emissions reduction.
Now we feel it is time to take another step - to look ahead again - and to invest to meet the needs of tomorrow.
We recently announced the launch of a new business: BP Alternative Energy. This business will bring together and build upon the work we have been doing already on alternatives and solar energy. It will significantly increase our investment in these technologies, to an estimated 8 billion dollars over ten years.
BP Alternative Energy is about giving people choices. Choices that include new alternative energies which are available at a reasonable cost, which do not lead to even further dependence on a small number of sources of supply, and which are positive for the environment because they produce less carbon. They reduce the risk of global warming and they are cleaner and more efficient.
BP Alternative Energy will increase our investment in solar and bolster BP's position as a leading manufacturer and supplier of photovoltaic systems. BP already has 10 percent of the global solar market, which is growing at 30 percent a year, faster than any other form of renewable energy. We have more than 100 megawatts of solar manufacturing capacity in the U.S., Spain, India and Australia, with a plan to double our capacity before the end of 2006. We recently signed a strategic joint venture to access China's expanding solar market and provide local manufacturing capacity, and we're exploring similar opportunities elsewhere in the region.
Here at home, we are making it easier for households to adopt solar energy through innovative offers such as Solar Home Solutions with The Home Depot, and with our new BP Solar Energy Tile for residential roofing.
The new business will also include work on wind power, where we have begun with a series of wind farms on our own land in Europe. BP also owns industrial land in open, high-wind regions of the U.S., away from residential areas, providing the possibility for us to build our first large- scale U.S. wind farm as early as 2007. We have identified enough sites in the U.S. to accommodate wind turbines with a total capacity of 2,000 megawatts.
BP Alternative Energy will include work on combined cycle gas turbines and cogeneration technology. Our projected investment in combined-cycle-gas-turbine power generation will be spent mainly in the U.S. where the company already has significant co-generation capacity. We are currently finalizing plans for a 400 million dollar unit at one of our major plants, which will deliver 100 megawatts of power to the plant, and 420 megawatts to the local electric grid.
Perhaps most exciting to me is our work on the new and rapidly evolving technology of sequestration, taking carbon out of hydrocarbons, and using hydrogen to develop a carbon free source of electric power.
Our investment in hydrogen fuels includes last year's announcement to design and build the world's first commercial project in Scotland. It will turn natural gas into hydrogen by stripping out carbon dioxide and pumping it into depleted oil reservoirs. Not only will we sequester the carbon dioxide, but this process will also extend the life of these fields by years and allow for increased oil production. The hydrogen will then be an energy source for a local power station and will generate 350 megawatts of 'clean' electricity.
BP is looking at a similar sequestration project to make hydrogen from low-value coke byproducts at one of our U.S. refineries, generating 500 megawatts at an adjacent new-build power plant.
We intend to develop each of these elements. In addition, we will build on all our trading experience and strive to be the leading trader in clean power and carbon dioxide credits.
All these alternatives are focused on power generation for a number of specific reasons. First, power accounts for more than 40 percent of all carbon emissions. Second, the demand for electricity is growing very rapidly across the world. Looking ahead, 40 percent of the generating capacity necessary in the year 2020 has yet to be built. That covers new power stations, as well as the replacement of those existing stations which are coming to the end of their lives.
That is a good business opportunity: a 600 billion dollar market to be won. It is also an opportunity in another sense as well. If only half of that new capacity was built using low-carbon facilities, we estimate that around 12 percent of the total emissions of carbon which would otherwise occur can be avoided. That would represent a significant step forward towards the goal of keeping the level of carbon within the earth's atmosphere below 550 ppm.
That is not the whole answer to the challenges of increasing demand, energy security, sustainability or climate change of course, but it would be a significant start. It is one example of practical action which industry can take to meet the challenge of climate change and energy security and to avoid that challenge becoming a crisis.
Work done at Princeton, funded by BP and Ford, has demonstrated that there are a series of different ways in which the projected increase in emissions can be averted over the next few decades. A project important not only for its results, but also because it represents a common objective between an academic institution, an oil company and an automobile manufacturer. Work in this area and similar projects looking at the future of energy production and use could remove a proportion of the emissions which would otherwise occur.
It is useful to think of the opportunities in terms of three elements. First, we should look for improvements in the efficiency of energy use. For example, envision a future where vehicles operated at 60 miles per gallon rather than 30. If by 2050, two billion vehicles operated at that level, one gigaton of carbon emissions per year could be eliminated. That is one seventh of the reduction necessary on that timetable if emissions are to stay within level judged to be safe.
Additionally, we need to seek improved energy efficiency in the way we construct our homes and buildings, the use of co-generation and the reduced loss of heat at manufacturing sites. Technology advances are needed in the systems and activities that require energy, not just in the development of energy sources.
The second element is a shift in the use of energy products. If 1,400 large power stations used natural gas or an equivalent future clean coal technology rather than current technology, it would eliminate another gigaton of carbon emissions per year.
As a third point we need to solve the separate challenge of carbon sequestration which I believe holds particularly exciting potential. As I mentioned, we are demonstrating this technology at scale.
At BP, our actions are built on the presumption that the day will come when carbon is priced. The pricing may not be universal, but I believe it will be quite widespread across the world within the next decade. As carbon is priced, we believe there will be a market for technologies which reduce emissions and which displace energy production which would otherwise generate emissions. The actions we are taking and the role I have discussed for BP is an example of how business can do its part for sustainability, and still stay within its purpose and obligations to its owners. The organizations affecting sustainability must work together if we are to make progress.
Markets need structure as perfect markets are very rare. Most are imperfect and transitional, with factors both artificial and natural that must be considered. Corrective action and clarity around the rules of the game are often required to improve their effectiveness. These actions and revisions to the rules need to be considered for both their short term and long term effects.
Business needs good government, just as government needs good business. Organizations that impact the drive for secure and sustainable energy must understand each others purpose and role, and we must understand each others limitations. We must find ways to work together for a common goal. The goal of sustainability should be a common thread for all.
Business, and my industry in particular, is an important part of society, but only one part. Over the next two days, you will work through the options and debate the role of government and organizations both private and public.
You will discuss the role of politics in these decisions. Law, regulation, the pattern of opportunity and the distribution of income are shaped through the actions of both social and government organizations. Politics influence these decisions at all levels and must be considered when determining the scale and likely success of the various options. Compromise is inevitable but also difficult as it requires balancing high level principles with the need for reality, to make progress.
You will also investigate the role of consumers who, ultimately will make choices and incur the cost of sustainability. They pay for it in their daily actions and they pay for it with their taxes. Some of them have a priority for cheap energy as a way of obtaining economic growth and to be able to improve their quality of life in the most basic sense. Others want energy supplied in ways that reduces the risk of dependence on any one source of energy or a very narrow range of suppliers. And others have a priority for energy supplied in a way that reduces the risk of emissions altering the sensitive balance of the world's climate.
Individually, you can understand the basis but also the limitations of each of these priorities; but together they form the platform for developing a secure and sustainable approach to providing energy.
The challenge is in determining the balance and how we take the journey. It is important to realize that economic, social and political trends shape the energy landscape as much as technologies themselves.
As a company made up largely of scientists and engineers, we sometimes forget that the technology is but one contributor to the development of public policy.
Public priorities, shaped by values and perception of risk, also play into the development of public policy. They cannot and should not be ignored.
But despite these concerns, meeting the energy needs of today is a challenge that is being met. The market is working. The resources are available and there is no shortage. There are at least 40 years of oil supply at current consumption rates and almost 70 years of gas from known reserves. History suggests that we will continue to find additional commercially viable oil and gas as we advance technology.
While there is reason for optimism about meeting the energy needs of tomorrow, in a way that is sustainable; much work remains to be done. There are no magical solutions, no silver bullet technologies, but rather a range of options. Each of which will have the ability to contribute to a solution given the proper policy framework.
It has been observed that each time there has been a major shift in the world's use of energy, that shift has been driven by the fact that the new source of energy is cheaper, more convenient or better performing. It is an interesting question to ponder as to whether that paradigm will continue to hold true or whether other factors will play into the introduction and acceptance of new sources for energy in the future.
Will the public be willing to pay more or forego some amount of convenience, for an energy source that is more sustainable? I am not sure of the answer to that question. I can say though, that we are operating under the assumption that the paradigm will not be broken. We are operating under the assumption that future energy sources, while cleaner, will compete with energy sources of today in terms of cost, convenience, performance and acceptability.
Just as there is no single solution, developing energy for the future that meets these expectations will not be done by any single company, or by a single industry. It will take governments, industry and the help of organizations such as the ones represented here today to meet these challenges. They may seem difficult but they must be solved because there is no other choice. We must find ways to provide energy for a sustainable and secure future.
Conferences like this one are critical steps in the journey. It may only be two days but your impact and the work you begin this week can make a difference. I urge you to be creative, practical and open in your thinking. What you do here does matter.
Thanks again for inviting me here today. I look forward to hearing about the ideas discussed over the next 2 days.
If there is time in your agenda, I would be happy to take your questions.
Thank you.